Chronicon Adae de Usk, A.D. 1377-1421

CHRONICON ADA DE USK

PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION
OF THE

ROYAL SOCIETY OF LITERATURE

CHRO vy ADA DE USK
A.D. 1377-1421

EDITED
WITH A TRANSLATION AND NOTES

BY

SIR EDWARD MAUNDE THOMPSON, K.C.B.

SECOND EDITION

LONDON
HENRY FROWDE
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE, AMEN CORNER, E.C.

1904

OXFORD: HORACE HART
PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY

INTRODUCTION

WHEN in the year 1876 I edited, for the Royal Society
of Literature, the Chronicle of Adam of Usk, for the first
time, from the unique text in the Additional MS. 10,104
in the British Museum, I was at a disadvantage. The
end of the MS. was missing, and the chronicle broke off
abruptly in the narrative of events of the year 1404. It
would then have appeared rash to entertain a hope that
the missing portion would ever be recovered. The MS.
had already been in the possession of the British Museum
for forty years; and who could say how many more had
elapsed before that period since the mutilation of the
volume? But in the world of letters, as in other depart-
ments of human affairs, the unexpected happens with
@ surprising persistency. In 1885, a quire of vellum
leaves, carelessly folded up, was found among a number
of neglected documents in a loft at Belvoir Castle, at
the time when the Duke of Rutland’s collection of
papers was being examined and calendared for the
Historical Manuscripts Commission, and this eventually
proved to be the missing portion of the Additional MS.
and to contain the end of Adam of Usk’s chronicle.
Its true character, however, was not recognized until
quite recently; and I have to thank my friend, Sir
Henry Maxwell-Lyte, K.C.B., the Deputy Keeper of
Public Records, for his kindness in communicating the
discovery to me, and His Grace the Duke of Rutland

vi INTRODUCTION

for permission to copy and publish the text. To the
Royal Society of Literature, which had generously
undertaken the first publication of the chronicle whose
authorship I had then identified, I naturally turned
again with the new material in my hand. The Society
has repeated its generosity and has undertaken the
issue of this second and complete edition of Adam of
Usk’s work with a liberality which entitles it to the
gratitude of all students of English history. My sense
of personal obligation to the Society I cannot adequately
express.

The Additional MS. 10,104 was purchased for the
British Museum at the sale of the library of Richard
Heber, in February, 1836, being lot 833 of the Manu-
scripts. There is no record to show how Heber acquired
the volume. It is a folio measuring 143 by 93 inches
and consisting of 177 leaves. It contains the Poly-
chronicon, or “ Historia Policronica,’ of Ralph Higden,
ending with the close of Edward the third’s reign, and
preceded by an index, a note of the five ages of the world
previous to the birth of Christ, and a map of the world.
The first page of each of the seven books into which the
work is divided is decorated with an initial and border
in gold and colours. The handwriting, which is of the
usual character employed for works of this nature, is
of the end of the fourteenth century. In the margins,
besides the ordinary key-notes which may be regarded
as an integral part of the text, various other notes have
been added from time to time by different hands; and
it is not impossible that some of them may have been
written by Adam of Usk himself, who owned the chronicle
and who bequeathed it, as we shall see, to his kinsman
Edward ap Adam. At the foot of the first page of

INTRODUCTION Vii

the first book of the Polychronicon Adam’s shield of
arms: sable, a naked man (Adam, the father of mankind)
delving, has been drawn in a very rough style, probably
not by Adam himself, but possibly by his legatee. The
Polychronicon occupies 154 leaves; and on two leaves
which had been left blank at the end of it, and on a suffi-
cient number of supplementary leaves, Adam’s chronicle
is written. The wooden covers of the original binding
still remain, but cased with leather of modern date.

We now turn to Adam’s chronicle. This, as we know
from his own references, he intended to serve as a sup-
plement to Higden’s work. But the text is not in his
handwriting; it is written by several scribes, none of
them good writers, and some of them illiterate. It is
not improbable that Adam may have left instructions
to his legatee, Edward ap Adam, to have his compilation
copied into the volume, from a reluctance (if not modesty)
that “this record of his foolishness”! should appear in
his lifetime. As already stated, the text in the Addi-
tional MS. breaks off in the narrative of the year 1404,
The quire which has been recovered at Belvoir Castle
carries on the chronicle to the year 1421; but the latter
part is very meagre, and is rather in the nature of dis-
connected memoranda of particular events than of his-
torical narrative. Although Adam lived nine years later
than the conclusion of his chronicle, he was by this time
an old man and he noted nothing further. The new
material occupies eleven of the twelve pages of the
Belvoir quire, and the handwriting, like that of the
earlier part of the text, is by different scribes, degenerating
at the end into a slovenly scrawl. The date of the MS.
of the chronicle, as a whole, may be about 1440-1450.

1 See p. 219.

Vili INTRODUCTION

The text throughout has key-notes, corrections, and
some additions, written in the margins in various hands.
The latest in date are some which appear both in the
volume and in the newly-found quire in handwriting
of the latter part of the sixteenth century; and their
presence in both portions of the text proves that at least
at the time when they were written the Additional MS.
was intact.

Neither in the Heber sale-catalogue nor in the official
“List of Additions to the Manuscripts in the British
Museum in the years 1836-1840” was the authorship of
Adam of Usk identified. The clue was first afforded by
certain notes, or sentences, more or less illiterate, which
are entered in the MS. immediately after the Poly-
chronicon and form a kind of introduction to Adam’s
chronicle. These consist in the first place of a series
of references to Adam, the father of mankind, and to
others of the same name, with citations from the Holy
Scriptures, from Gratian’s “ Decretum,” and from the
Fathers. The following examples are selected :—

“Adam de quo sancta refert Trinitas: ‘Factus est Adam
quasi unus ex nobis.’? Gen. j.”
“ Ade solius felix culpa et felix delictum, secundum sanctum
Gregorium.”
“Adam tunica pellicia se vestivit: de pe. di. j. medicina ”
[Gratian, Decretum: de penitentia, distinctio j., cap. 1xxx].
“Ade felicibus translacionis assencibus a Herefordiensi ad
‘Wygorniensem, et a Wygorniensi ad Wyntoniensem, canit quidam
emulus:
‘Trigamus est Adam talem suspendere vadam.
Thomam neglexit, Wolstanum non bene rexit,
Swythinum maluit. Cur? Quia plus valuit.’”?

1 See p. 277.
? Adam de Orleton, bishop of Hereford, 1317; of Worcester, 1827;
and of Winchester, 1333.

INTRODUCTION ix

The next is more personally interesting, for it contains
an allusion to incidents in our chronicler’s career, to be
noticed presently * :—

‘*Ade quamvis, propter sui virtutes omni carentis miseria,
finaliter principiis obstet invidia, tamen praecipua in eo reperi-
tur gracia, ut patet Genesi j.; qui, expulsus paradiso per invi-
diam diaboli, fuit restitutus celo per sanguinem Dei filii. Et,
quamvis per invidiam cujusdam militis fuit privatus beneficio,
ecce quam solempnis fuit ejus restitucio: extra[ctus] de testi-
[moniis] ex parte Ade. Et, quamvis venatorum invidia eorum
ducis concilio expellebatur et consorcio*, ecce quam gloriosa eciam
ejus reparacio: extra(ctus] de jurfibus?]. Veniens Adam juxta
naturam Aprilis, in quo fuit creatus*, primo varias et asperas
aurarum et turbinum subeuntis procellas, tamen finaliter Maii
ac tocius estatis flores causantis et delicias.”

In the following, the juxtaposition of “Adam” and
“Usk” brings before us the name of the chronicler :—

“ Ecce, omnis miserie reiciendo causam ‘, quam gloriosus virtu-
tibus Apam! Usk: de isto cognomine canit vates Merlinus:
‘ Fluvius Usk per vij. menses fervebit, cujus calore pisses morien-
tur et serpentes gravabunt’; serpentes in bona parte sumendo,
ut intelligo, juxta illud Evangelii: ‘ Estote prudentes sicut ser-
pentes.? Sed de quo ista canit Merlinus, credo quod [de] comite
Marchie, domino loci et graciosi regis Edwardi pronepote, et
domini Lionelly ducis Clarencie, ejus filii, nepote; quem regem
Edwardum dictus vates vocat aprum bellicosum, qui suos dentes
infra tutamina Francie accuere deberet; quod, ut constat, fecit

1 See p. xxviij.

2 It is not obvious why in this sentence ‘‘ venatores ” should be em-
ployed to describe Adam of Usk’s enemies. The term seems to be too
special, unless there be some hidden allusion. The leader, “dux,”
from whose society he was excluded, can hardly be any other than
the king, Henry, lately duke of Hereford; and Adam may therefore
have had in his mind the comparison which he makes (pp. 25, 173) of
Richard’s followers to harts who were driven out of the kingdom, and
hence he may here indicate the Lancastrians as the “ hunters.”

5 Adam may here be only alluding to the tradition that the father
of mankind was created in the spring; on the other hand he may be
stating the month in which he himself was born.

* vangam, MS.

x INTRODUCTION

partes devincendo [et] depredando, necnon eorum regem in cam-
pestri bello captivando, regemque Boemie eodem dencium accu-
mine perimendo.”

The notes are followed by a copy of a portion of
a letter addressed to Lewis de St. Melano, treasurer of
Llandaff from 1368, apparently to 1402, on the miserable
state of that diocese.

Nor is the fly-leaf at the end of the MS. without
interest. Here was once written the name of an owner
in the fifteenth century, possibly that of Edward ap
Adam, but unhappily the portion of the vellum which
was thus inscribed has been carefully cut out. But there
are also, in addition to some historical memoranda, the
following verses which seem to be several attempts to
compose an epitaph in honour of our chronicler—all
written in a cramped and feeble hand, and all of them
vile literary productions. One would be pleased, from
a feeling of sentiment, to imagine that here we may
have specimens of Adam's own composition—greater men
than he have yielded to the temptation of writing their
own epitaphs—but jealousy for his reputation as a scholar
should forbid the idea, although the period of the hand-
writing might fall within that of his closing years :—

“O dolor immensus; satis ars vel gloria sensus;
Non rediment census, quin casus sit tibi pensus.
Sortitum nostri prothoplausti nomen, ab inde
Usk dictum, sub se continet iste lapis.”

* Justiniane, tuas leges docuit, vice fungens
Doctoris, necnon jus, Graciane, tuum.”

“Qui docui mores mundi vitare favores,)

Inter doctores sacros sortitus honores,
Vermibus hic ponor, et sic ostendere conor
Quod, sicut hic ponor, sic ponitur omnis honor.”

? “honores ” seems to have been written at first, and then clumsily
altered into “ favores.”

INTRODUCTION xi

“Legit hic Oxonie doctor civilia jura;
Hic jacet in requie, vivat sine fine futura.”?

From the details which our author himself incidentally
supplies of his own career, and from modern research,
and especially from the patient investigations prose-
cuted by Mr. J. H. Wylie for his “ History of Henry the
Fourth,” the outline of Adam of Usk’s life may be drawn
with some accuracy.? But, first, it should be noted that
documentary evidence now shows that his name was
nearly always written as Adam Usk, rather than Adam
de Usk. As, however, he has become familiar to us as
Adam of Usk, and for a quarter of a century has been
referred to by that designation, let his name so stand.

He was a native of Usk in Monmouthshire, but the
exact date of his birth can only be conjectured. In the
ejaculatory preface to his account of his departure for
Rome in February, 1402, he refers to himself as having
arrived at the period of old age and decay (“senecta et
senium,” p. 74). Such an expression in modern days
would imply a greater age than it did in the middle
ages, when men were wont to regard themselves as old
at a period of life which we consider comparatively
young. Adam may, then, have been about fifty years of
age when he left England, and we may venture to place
the year of his birth about 1852. He owed his first step
in life to his patron, Edmund Mortimer, third earl of
March (a.p. 1860-13881), who held the lordship of Usk
in right of his wife Philippa of Clarence claiming
through her mother, Elizabeth de Burgh, of the family of

1 The presence of reference letters (a and b) in the margin seems to
indicate that the fourth attempt should precede the second in order.

* I take this opportunity of expressing my grateful thanks to my

friend Mr. Hubert Hall for his valuable assistance in searching the
records at the Public Record Office.

xii INTRODUCTION

Clare, and who presented him to an exhibition in laws
at Oxford (p. 22). Supposing Adam to have been then
a lad of, say, sixteen years, he would have commenced
his university career about 1368. He eventually took
the degree of doctor of laws, for which he kept the
three years’ course (pp. 74, 242), that is, after being
admitted bachelor. He could not have attained to the
higher degree in less than twelve years from the date
of his first entering the university; and he probably
resided somewhat longer. The fact that he was ap-
pointed a notary (pp. 3, 189) by cardinal Pileo di Prata
in 1381 seems to suggest that, by that time, he had risen
to some position and had taken the degree of doctor.

The details of Adam’s life in the succeeding years
are scanty. In 1387 we learn that he was residing in
Oxford (pp. 6, 145) as an “extraordinary” in canon Jaw,
presumably as lecturer for the “ extraordinary ” lectures ;
and in 1388 and 1389 he was implicated as a ringleader
in the feud of the Welsh and southerners against the
northern scholars. From these references it may be
inferred that, after taking his doctor’s degree, he either
remained in, or soon returned to, Oxford, and resided
there for some years, being engaged in university
teaching. This view is supported by the remark that
he incidentally makes, in connection with Chicheley’s
advancement to the see of Canterbury (pp. 123, 303), that
it was to him that he handed over his chair of civil
law. Unless Adam is speaking carelessly, we must
regard this civil chair as a further advancement on the
appointment he had held as “extraordinarius.”’ Now,
Chicheley took the degree of bachelor of laws early in
1390, and he therefore could not have held the chair
before that time; and he went out of residence in the

INTRODUCTION xiii

middle of 1892. Adam, then, must have vacated his
appointment in Chicheley’s favour between those dates.
After this he practised for seven years in the court of
Canterbury, as he informs us (pp. 74, 242), apparently
from 1392 to 1899; for in the latter year, when he was
presented by archbishop Arundel to the church of
Kemsing, he was styled “curiae nostrae Cantuariensis
advocatus.” !

Adam was present in the parliament held in September
of 1397; but he does not say in what capacity. It is
most probable, however, that he was there in some
connection with archbishop Arundel and his brother
Richard, earl of Arundel, both of whom then fell under
the king’s vengeance, the former being banished and
the latter losing his life. The regretful terms in which
Adam refers to the earl’s death (pp. 15, 159) indicate
his personal interest in that unfortunate man. His rela-
tions with the Arundels are explained by the alliance
of their house with the Mortimers; Philippa, daughter
of Edmund, earl of March, Adam’s patron, and herself
his patron also, having been married, in 1391, as his
second wife, to this same earl of Arundel.? Indeed,
we may assume that from the time when the families
of Arundel and Mortimer were thus brought into such

1 Lambeth Palace library: Arundel register, i. 263.

? She had previously been the wife of John Hastings, earl of
Pembroke, who was killed in a tournament, and, after Arundel's
execution, she married as a third husband Thomas Poynings, baron
St. John.

Adam of Usk also seems to have had his enemies among the
members of the Arundel family. Forsome unknown reason he disliked
the lady Bergavenny, who was Joan, wife of William Beauchamp,
baron Bergavenny, and daughter, by his first wife, of the above
Richard, earl of Arundel. He calls her a second Jezebel (pp. 63, 228).
Her curious will, which suggests a masterful character in the lady,
is printed by Dugdale, Baronage, i. 240.

xiv INTRODUCTION

close bonds, Adam, as a clergyman, would have enjoyed
the protection of Arundel, archbishop then of York
and, in 1396, of Canterbury. That at a later date he
benefited by the archbishop’s patronage and was his
dependent down to the day of Arundel’s death is suffi-
ciently shown in the course of this chronicle. It seems,
then, quite a natural thing to find him, on his next
appearance, in company with the archbishop at Bristol
in the train of Henry Bolingbroke, whose march north-
ward to Chester he followed. With a certain tone of
self-importance Adam has described some incidents
during this progress in which he personally took part.
At Usk, his native place, he secured the submission of
the inhabitants to Henry, who had threatened to pillage
their country in punishment for the resistance which
they had been prepared to offer at the instigation of the
lady of the place, who was Alianore, the daughter of
Thomas Holland, earl of Kent, king Richard’s half-
brother, and widow of Roger Mortimer, fourth earl of
March, This lady was now married to her second
husband, sir Edward de Cherleton, who appears at a later
time under the title of the lord of Powis, and for whom
Adam claims to have obtained, on this occasion, the
favour of Bolingbroke (pp. 25, 174). At Ludlow he again
used his influence with Henry and archbishop Arundel
for the release of Thomas Prestbury from prison and for
his promotion as abbot of Shrewsbury. Arrived at
Chester, Adam seems to have combined his duties as
a priest in the celebration of mass with the apparently
not uncongenial occupation of joining in the search for
and plunder of the hidden goods of the inhabitants.

At this point we should note the benefices held by
Adam of Usk down to this period, so far as they have

INTRODUCTION XV

been ascertained. First, we find that on the 11th Sep-
tember, 1383, he was presented to the church of Mitchel
Troy in Monmouthshire, in the diocese of Llandaff, then
in the king’s gift by reason of the wardship of Roger,
heir of the late Edmund Mortimer, third earl of March’.
This living he exchanged on the 21st September, 1385,
for that of Babcary in Somersetshire, in the diocese of
Bath and Wells*; but how long he held the latter does
not appear, and whether it was this or some other
benefice that he exchanged, in 1396, for the rectory of
Castle Combe in Wiltshire, in the diocese of Salisbury,
remains uncertain. At all events in that year he is found
in possession of the church of Castle Combe, by exchange
with the incumbent Henry Pake; and he seems to have
held it till the year 1408, when the name of Ralph de
Derham appears as rector®. It is to be noted that the
patron of this living was sir Stephen Scrope, to whom
we shall have to make reference at a later stage of Adam’s
career*, In addition to the rectory of Castle Combe, Adam
was presented, under papal dispensation, by Philippa,
daughter of Edmund Mortimer, earl of March, and now
lady St. John, who has been mentioned above, to
the living of West Hanningfield in Essex, in the diocese
of London, probably early in the year 1899; not long
before that lady’s death, which took place in 1400, as
he himself tells us (pp. 55, 217). He almost at once
exchanged West Hanningfield for Shire Newton in
Monmouthshire, in the diocese of Llandaff, on the 24th
October, 1399, the incumbent of the latter being John
Kyrkton®; and again, on the 24th November of the

1 Pat. Rolls, 7 Ric. II., i. 32. ? Tbid., 9 Ric. IL, i. 33.
5 G. P. Scrope, History of the Manor and ancient Barony of Castle
Combe, 1852, p. 371. * See p. xxviij.

5 Pat. Rolls, 1 Hen. IV., i. 20; Cal. Pat. Rolls, Hen. IV., i. 22.

xvi INTRODUCTION

same year, he exchanged Shire Newton for Panteg, in
the same county and diocese’. The latter exchange was
effected with Thomas ap Adam, who we learn from
Adam’s own statement was his cousin (pp. 40, 195); and
the living of Panteg, thus acquired, he surrendered in
favour of another cousin, Matthew ap Hoel.

At the same time our chronicler enjoyed the direct
patronage of his friend archbishop Arundel, who presented
him, on the 17th November, 1399, to the living of
Kemsing,? with the chapel of Seal, in Kent, in the diocese
of Rochester, together with the canonry and prebend of
Llandogo, in the collegiate church of Abergwili, in
Caermarthenshire, in the diocese of Llandaff (pp. 40,
195). But of these benefices Adam was not to hold
possession without challenge. First, as to the canonry
and prebend of Llandogo: his title was disputed by
Walter Ammeney, priest, of the diocese of Exeter, who
appealed to the papal court, and who, on the hearing of
his case, was reinstated. Against this decision Adam
appealed and petitioned for the case to be re-tried in
Wales, litigation in Rome being costly; whereupon
a mandate was issued on the 38rd April, 1401, to the
precentor of St. David’s for a new trial, with direction
that, should it be found that neither party had any
right, then the precentor should collate and assign to
Adam the said canonry and prebend, value not exceed-
ing twenty marks, notwithstanding that he holds Kem-
sing, value not exceeding thirty marks*. From later
evidence it seems that Adam finally obtained possession‘.

In regard to Kemsing and the annexed chapel of Seal

1 Pat. Rolls, 1 Hen. IV., iii. 16; Cal. i. 108.

? Lambeth Palace library: Arundel register, i. 263.
* Calendar of Papal Registers, Papal Letters, v. 457.
* Ibid., vj. 44, 45, under date 3 id. Nov., 1404.

INTRODUCTION xvii

he was not so successful. On the Ist July, 1402, a papal
mandate was issued to the archbishop of Canterbury and
others—reciting that the church and chapel had been
appropriated to the priory (afterwards abbey) of Saint
Saviour of Bermondsey; that, on a representation by
Adam of neglect of divine service therein, the pope had
annulled this appropriation; and that thereupon the
abbey had petitioned on the ground of wrongful dis-
possession on false pretences, and that judgement had
been given in favour of the abbey ;—and ordering the
execution of the sentence and the removal of Adam’,
Later, the abbey having been reinstated and holding
possession, but fearing fresh litigation on account of the
previous annulment of the appropriation, the pope made
the appropriation anew *.

To round up the tale of Adam’s preferments at this
time, we note his statement (pp. 45, 206) that he received
a prebend in the church of Bangor (possibly Bangor
Monachorum St. Dinoth, in the counties of Denbigh
and Flint), by gift of the prince of Wales,

Resuming the narrative of Adam’s career, on Henry’s
arrival in London with the captive king, we find him
appointed “among certain doctors, bishops, and others,”
to sit as member of a commission to advise on the question
of the deposition of Richard. No doubt he directly
owed this important appointment to the archbishop’s
influence; but at the same time it implies a recognition
of his merits as a lawyer. It was during the session of
this commission that the examination of the chronicles
took place, as told by Adam himself, to decide the claim
which is said to have been put forward with the view of

1 Cal. Pap. Reg., Pap. Lett., v. 506.

2 Tbid., vj., under date 3 kal. Mar., 1404.
b

xviii INTRODUCTION

giving a title to the Lancastrian succession (pp. 30, 182).
And an interesting incident recorded at this time is
Adam’s visit to the Tower and admission to the presence
of the imprisoned king not long before his deposition.
That Adam was present at that great historical event in
parliament is most probable, although he does not actu-
ally say so; but he does mention his attendance in
Henry’s first parliament and at his coronation, in con-
nection with which ceremony he was retained by sir
Thomas Dymock to draw his petition for the champion-
ship (pp. 85, 188). All through these events we may
presume that he was more or less in communication with
the archbishop, on whose restoration to the primacy he
has some observations and gives a graphic account of the
ejectment from Lambeth palace of the armorial devices
of the dispossessed prelate Roger Walden (pp. 38, 192),
whose submission he witnessed and to whose worthy
character he bears testimony.

Adam’s services as a lawyer were required from time
to time on public business. On the 23rd February, 1400,
we find him appointed one of a commission to hear an
appeal from a judgement of the military court of Bor-
deaux!; and in September of the same year he was
called on for an opinion on the question of the reim-
bursement to France of the portion of the dower of
Richard’s young widow, queen Isabella, which was repay-
able in default of issue of the marriage, and which Henry
would have been glad to find some excuse for withholding
(pp. 48, 209). Nine months later Adam saw the young
princess depart on her homeward journey, “showing a
countenance of lowering and evil aspect to king Henry,and
scarce opening her lips, as she went her way ” (pp. 63, 229).

1 Pat. Rolls, 1 Hen. IV., vj. 31; Rymer, Fadera, viij. 129.

INTRODUCTION xix

During this period he was also retained as counsel in
certain private suits, to which he himself refers. In
1399 he was concerned in obtaining the confirmation of
the title of sir James Berkeley in Raglan and other
lordships. In the next year he was counsel for lord
Morley in his suit against the earl of Salisbury, in which
his fee, as he notices, was one hundred shillings and
twelve yards of scarlet cloth. And again, in 1401, he
appeared for lord Grey of Ruthin in his long and costly
suit in the court of chivalry to substantiate his claim to
bear the arms of Hastings; and also, in a similar armor-
ial action, for sir Walter Byttervey against sir John
Colvylle of Dale (a Shakespearean character).

Adam was by no means unconscious of his own legal
acquirements, and certainly missed no occasion for airing
his knowledge. The way in which he parades the decre-
tals in convocation is amusing (pp. 44, 204); and still
more so is his attempt to overwhelm the German envoy,
on the delicate question of the recent imperial election,
with citations from the same authorities, when the bishop
of Hereford opportunely came to the rescue of the embar-
rassed diplomatist and bade the officious Adam hold his
peace (pp. 59, 223).

But, granting that our chronicler was a competent \
lawyer, he was hardly a wise man, and he was certainly of
a particularly credulous disposition. The marvellous
appeals to him in its most simple forms. Prophecies of
Bridlington and others are solemnly vouched. Wonderful
eggs, a two-headed calf, a one-eyed boy, the spontaneous
ringing of bells, a stream flowing blood, are all faithfully
recorded. More valuable is his story of king Richard’s
greyhound (pp. 41, 196); and the. ominous incidents

which attended that monarch’s coronation (pp. 42, 200)
b2

xx INTRODUCTION

as well as the coronation of Henry the fourth (pp. 119, 298)
are at least interesting, even if they are not authentic.
A seer of visions and a dreamer of dreams, Adam has on
every fitting occasion a dream or vision to recount, which
at least does credit to his imagination.

To his native town of Usk he was affectionately attached.
He himself tells us of his gift to the church of certain
service books and vestments, the latter broidered (a touch
of vanity!) with his armorial bearings which testified his
descent from his namesake Adam, the father of mankind:
on a field sable, a naked man delving (pp. 56, 219).
Again, when in Rome, he obtained an indulgence in
favour of the nunnery of Usk (pp. 93, 268), which had
been reduced to poverty by the Welsh wars. And in the
end he was buried in Usk church. His full account of the
death of John Usk, abbot of Chertsey (pp. 46, 207), would
suggest some relationship: and the selection, for special
mention, of the name of Thomas Usk (pp. 6, 146) would
make us wish to believe that our writer was connected
with the author of the “Testament of Love.” But the
most that we can assume is that they were fellow
townsmen.

The last public employment of Adam which has to be
noticed, before the event which compelled his retirement
to foreign lands, was an inquiry into a scandal in the
priory of Nuneaton (pp. 57, 220) which he was called on
by the archbishop of Canterbury to undertake in associa-
tion with an interesting personage, Philip Repyngdon,
the quondam follower of Wycliffe, abbot of Leicester and
king Henry’s chaplain and confessor, who afterwards
became bishop of Lincoln. No doubt it was the connection |
thus brought about between the two men that enabled
Adam to give in his chronicle the text of the remarkable

INTRODUCTION xxi

letter of remonstrance which Repyngdon addressed to
the king (pp. 65, 281).

We now arrive at the year 1402, when Adam abruptly
announces, without giving any reason, his departure, in
February, for Rome. It isto Mr. Wylie’s minute investi-
gations that we owe our knowledge of the true cause of
this journey. Grievous is it to have to relate that Adam
of Usk, a doctor of laws of Oxford, a clergyman of standing,
and one who enjoyed the protection of the great and
powerful, and who, we doubt not, was looking forward to
substantial preferment, had, on the 2nd November, 1400,
taken to the road in Westminster and stolen a horse,
colour black, saddle and bridle, value one hundred shil-
lings, together with the sum of fourteen marks in cash,
all the property of one Walter Jakes; and that Adam
and his servants, Edward Usk and Richard Edoyn, were

convicted as common thieves?.

1 These facts appear in the pardon granted, in 1403, to Edward Usk.
Pat. Rolls, 4 Hen. IV., ij. 22.—‘‘ Rex omnibus ballivis et fidelibus suis,
ad quos, etc., salutem. Sciatis quod, cum Edwardus Usk et Ricardus
Edoyn, servientes dilecti ligei nostri Ade Usk, clerici, indictati existant
de eo quod idem Adam, una cum prefatis Edwardo et Ricardo et aliis,
die Martis proximo post festum Omnium Sanctorum, anno regni nostri
secundo, jacuerunt in insidiis apud villam Westmonasterii, ad quosdam
ligeos nostros depredandos, ac in insidiis ibidem sic jacendo quendam
equum nigri coloris Walteri Jakes, una cum una sella et freno, precii
centum solidorum, et quatuordecim marcas in moneta dicti Walteri,
ibidem inventas, felonice furati fuerunt, et quod iidem Adam, Edwardus,
et Ricardus communes latrones existunt,—Nos de gracia nostra
speciali perdonavimus eidem Edwardo sectam pacis nostre, que ad nos
versus ipsum pertinet pro feloniis supradictis, unde sic indictatus,
rettatus, vel appellatus existit, ac eciam utlagarias, si que in ipsum
hiis occasionibus fuerint promulgate, et firmam pacem nostram ei inde
concedimus; Ita tamen quod stet recto in curia nostra, si quis versus
eum loqui voluerit de feloniis supradictis vel aliqua eorumdem. In
cujus, etc. Teste rege apud Westmonasterium, xvj. die Junii [1403].”

May not this Edward Usk, described as Adam's servant, perhaps be
identical with Edward ap Adam, his kinsman, to whom he bequeathed
the MS. of the Polychronicon ?

xxii INTRODUCTION

At this disgraceful breach of the law, the king’s anger
blazed out against Adam. Whether the culprit claimed
benefit of clergy, we know not; probably the archbishop’s
influence served to protect him from condign punishment.
But he had to leave the country, an exile, to his own
dishonour but to the advantage of the narrative of his
chronicle, which from this point contains an interesting
account of his adventures abroad. It is not improbable
that Adam purposely chose Rome as the place of his
retreat on account of the suit which was then being
prosecuted against him at the papal court for the recovery
of the rectory of Kemsing and the chapel of Seal, and
which, as we have seen, was soon afterwards decided in
favour of his opponents.

He took ship at Billingsgate on the 19th February.
Two days earlier he had found two sureties in £40 each
to refrain from doing anything in the court of Rome
prejudicial to the king or to the laws and customs of
his kingdom of England or to the statute of provisors’.
Landing at Bergen-op-Zoom, he travelled eastward,
through Diest, Maastricht, and Aachen, to Cologne, where
no doubt he took boat on the Rhine, following its course
through Bonn, Coblentz, Worms, Speyer, Strassburg, and
Breisach to Basel. Thence, striking south, he reached
Bern, and then journeyed eastward to Lucerne, where he
would have traversed the lake, and passed over the
St. Gotthard “in an ox-waggon, half dead with cold,”
dropping down on the Italian side into Bellinzona. His
journey so far had occupied a month. From Bellinzona
he travelled southward through Como, Milan and Piacenza,
toBorgo-San-Donnino, But thence—instead ofcontinuing
to follow the main road in a south-easterly direction to

1 Close Rolls, 3 Hen. IV., i. 6.

INTRODUCTION Xxiii

Parma and Bologna, and onward to Florence and Perugia,
—he turned due south and made his way across the
mountains to Pontremoli, and, emerging at Carrara, he
followed the coast-road through Pietrasanta to Pisa,
Then, once more turning inland, he accomplished the rest
of his journey by way of Siena and Viterbo, arriving
in Rome on the 5th April, a little more than six weeks
after leaving England. The reason for deviating from
the more direct route was to avoid the disturbed districts
in which Gian Galeazzo of Milan was at war. The great
comet of 1402, which was said to portend the approach-
ing death of that prince, was blazing in the heavens as
our traveller pursued his way from Cologne to Pisa.
Arrived in Rome, Adam was taken under the protection
of cardinal Balthasar Cossa (the future pope John the
twenty-third), and was presented by him to Boniface
the ninth; and, after examination by cardinal Cosimo
dei Migliorati, who was soon to become pope Innocent
the seventh, an old friend who as papal collector had
known him in England, he was appointed papal chap-
lain and auditor. In the pride of his exaltation, he tells
us that thirty great causes were forthwith submitted
to his judgement. This perhaps is an exaggeration ;
but, be that as it may, the Calendar of Papal Registers
proves that Adam of Usk was honourably employed in
deciding various suits. He had not long to wait for
other marks of favour from the papal see. The suit for
Kemsing went against him; but towards the close of
the year, as he tells us, the pope conferred on him the
archdeaconry of Buckingham, and the livings of Knoyle,
Tisbury, and Deverill (containing the fiye parishes of
Brixton, Kingston, Hill, Longbridge, and Monkton), in
Wiltshire ; but owing to his nationality, or, as he expresses

xxiv INTRODUCTION

it, “the Welsh war preventing this,” the preferments
were withheld, and he received instead, at a later date,
the archdeaconries of Llandaff and Caermarthen, together
with the church of Llandefailog and the prebend of
Llanbister (pp. 77, 246). From the Calendar of Papal
Registers! it appears that these latter benefices were
conferred on Adam by pope Boniface on the 18th August,
1404, value altogether not exceeding three hundred marks;
that he was still rector of Castle Combe, which he had
received licence to exchange at pleasure; and that he
was now holding that living, together with a canonry
and prebend in the diocese of St. Asaph (which may be
identified with the prebend in Bangor Monachorum
St. Dinoth, in that diocese, if we are right in conjecturing
the latter to be the one conferred upon him by the prince
of Wales), and certain others in Abergwili (e.g. the canonry
and prebend of Llandogo), value not exceeding eighty
marks, which last he was to surrender on obtaining
possession of the canonry and prebend of Llanbister.
In the same year 1404 the see of Hereford fell vacant
by the death of John Trevenant on the 6th April, and was
intended by the pope for Adam (if we are to believe his
own story), who attributes the failure of the proposal to
the envy and slander of his enemies (pp. 85, 256). Again,
later in the same year, a scheme was set on foot to secure
for him, by papal provision, the bishopric of St. David’s
(pp. 92,265); but again his enemies prevailed, and nothing
came of it. An attempt made at this time by Adam to
gain Henry’s favour by a submissive letter had no effect.
Meanwhile pope Boniface died and was succeeded by

1 Cal. Pap. Reg., Pap. Lett., vj. 44, 45, under date 3 id. Nov., 1404.
I have to express my acknowledgements to Mr. J. A. Twemlow, the
editor of the calendar, for references to material not yet published
which he has kindly supplied.

INTRODUCTION XXV

Adam’s friend, cardinal dei Migliorati, as Innocent the
seventh, These events give occasion to our chronicler
to describe, with some curious details, the new pontiff’s
election and coronation and the ceremonies and public
games connected therewith. Moreover, the occasion was
too important to be passed by without appropriate dreams
on Adam’s part, regarding both the dead and the living
pope, uncomplimentary to the former but favourable to
the latter.

But evil days were coming on Innocent, and Adam of
Usk shared his misfortunes. In August, 1405, took place
the revolt of the Romans against the pope and the flight
of the latter to Viterbo. Poor Adam was left behind and,
stripped even to his shoe-latchets, he had to remain in
hiding for some days, disguised as a Dominican, until he
could escape down the river, dressed as a sailor, and thus
make his way to rejoin the pope. Innocent seems to have
appreciated the humourous incongruity of a middle-aged
doctor of laws masquerading as a common mariner, and
had his gibes for the unfortunate fugitive. Reduced to
sore straits by the flight from Rome of the merchant who
acted as his banker and deserted by his friends, Adam,
while at Viterbo, had a severe illness, from which he only
recovered through the humanity of the pope, who sent his
own physician—a Jew, it is to be noted—to tend him.
He returned to Rome with the papal court in March, 1406;
but he had had enough of unpleasant experiences in that
city, and on the 18th June following he turned his face
northward again and set out on the road towards England.

As it seems, he had received no assurance that Henry
was prepared to pardon him; but it is probable that his
journey to Bruges, whither he now directed his course,
was specially undertaken with this object in view, and in

Xxvi INTRODUCTION

any case he must have felt that, if he were nearer to his
own country, he would be in a better position and would
have better opportunities to sue for grace. He travelled
by way of Siena and Genoa, and thence through Piedmont,
crossing the Mont Cenis on the 29th June, and taking
the route through Savoy, Burgundy, and Champagne, by
way of Dijon and Troyes, to Paris; thence through
Clermont to Amiens, and from thence through Arras to
Bruges. In that city he met, it may be assumed by
appointment, Richard del Brugg, Lancaster king of arms,
a favourite of king Henry and in his confidence, who,
however, warned the traveller of the king’s continued
animosity and counselled him not to venture into England
without a pardon first assured. This he undertook to sue
for, and for it Adam waited expectant for two years,
occupying the time, to some advantage, in legal practice
in Flanders and the north of France, but not escaping
the misfortune of being robbed by certain of his own
countrymen.

While at Bruges, Adam came in contact with the
fugitive earl of Northumberland and with Thomas, lord
Bardolf, who endeavoured to persuade him to join their
fortunes (pp. 105, 284). But he was cautious and refused;
he wisely “turned his cloak’’ and determined to abide
the king’s favour. The defeat and death of the earl
justified Adam’s worldly wisdom, and he piously “gave
thanks unto Him who foreseeth what is to come, for that
I had stayed behind.” Notwithstanding, the report of
his intercourse with the rebels came to Henry’s ears and
drew down on the unfortunate exile a greater measure of
the king’s wrath, whose indignation waxed stronger day
by day. When therefore Adam again met the king of
arms, at Paris, he learned that his case was apparently

INTRODUCTION xxvii

hopeless. Thereupon he came to a bold decision, which
raises in the mind a strong suspicion that he was not
altogether innocent of some previous intriguing with
Glendower. In his own words, “I, Adam, the writer of
this history, made a declaration before the same king of
arms that I would feign myself Owen’s man, and with
my following would cross over into Wales unto him; and
thence, taking my chance, I would steal away from him
to my lord of Powis, to await under his care the king’s
favour. And so it came to pass. And this declara-
tion saved me my life” (pp. 117, 295). Taking ship (he
does not say at what port), he was at first unsuccessful in
eluding the English cruisers, eight ships of Devon giving
_ chase, like hounds after a hare, and driving the fugitive
to seek shelter in St. Pol de Léon in Brittany. A second
attempt was successful, and Adam at length landed at
Barmouth in Merionethshire (probably towards the end
of the year 1408) and took to the hills among Owen’s
followers, “sorely tormented with many and great perils
of death and capture and false brethren, and of hunger
and thirst, and passing many nights without sleep for
fear of the attacks of foes.’ Nor was it quite easy to slip
away to his protector, lord Powis. Glendower was
suspicious and bound him “under the close restraint of
pledges,” which, however, Adam appears to have had no
hesitation in disregarding. Escaping by night, he found
safety in Pontypool, and there he seems to have passed
more than two years, “like a poor chaplain only getting
victuals for saying mass, shunned by thankless kin and
those who were once my friends, a life sorry enough—
and how sorry God in His heart doth know.”

But, at last, Adam’s troubles were over. By the inter-
cession of David Holbache (known to us chiefly as the

XXVili INTRODUCTION

founder of Oswestry Grammar School), a pardon in his
favour was issued on the 20th March, 1411, which confirms
his own story of his having joined Glendower as a
temporary expedient :—

“ Rex omnibus ballivis et fidelibus suis, ad quos, etc., salutem.
Sciatis quod, cum Adam Uske, clericus, contra voluntatem suam
in comitiva Owini de Glyndorduy et Wallensium rebellium exti-
terit, et ab eis tam cicius quam potuit recesserit, et ad graciam
nostram expectandam venerit, Nos, de gracia nostra speciali, et ad
supplicacionem dilecti nobis David Holbache, armigeri, perdo-
navimus eidem Ade sectam pacis nostre, que ad nos versus ipsum
pertinet, pro omnimodis prodicionibus et adhesionibus inimicis
et rebellibus nostris et corone nostre, ac pro omnimodis feloniis
et transgressionibus per ipsum Adam ante hec tempora factis
sive perpetratis, unde indictatus, rettatus, vel appellatus existit,
ac eciam utlagarias si que in ipsum hiis occasionibus fuerint
promulgate, et firmam pacem nostram ei inde concedimus; Ita
tamen quod stet recto in curia nostra, si qui versus eum loqui
voluerint de premissis seu aliquo premissorum. In cujus, etc.
Teste rege apud Westmonasterium, xx. die Marcii [1411]. Per
ipsum regem.” ?

In the joy of freedom, Adam now got him to his own
country among old friends and kinsmen; but he did not
find himself in all cases very welcome, especially with
those, as he says, who were his debtors. He had already
learned, while he was abroad, that he had been deprived
of all his benefices. His principal living, that of Castle
Combe, had been bestowed, in 1408, on Ralph de Derham,
sir Stephen Scrope being the patron; and it is probably
to this deprivation that the words refer, which are quoted
above (p. ix) from the preliminary notes accompanying
Adam’s chronicle: “Et quamvis per invidiam cujusdam
militis fuit privatus beneficio.’ The conclusion of the
sentence, “ecce quam solempnis fuit ejus restitucio,”
would then refer to his restoration to his practice in the

1 Pat. Rolls, 12 Hen. IV., 18.

INTRODUCTION xxix

court of Canterbury and to his presentation to the living
of Merstham in Surrey, which he owed to his patron
archbishop Arundel. He was indeed hoping for promo-
tion to greater fortune when Arundel suddenly died,
early in 1414, and Adam’s expectations were disappointed.
His eulogy on his patron is accompanied by the inevitable
vision of the prelate’s death, a well-conceived fiction and
constructed with some literary skill. After this there is
little to tell of his career. On the 2nd November, 1414,
he exchanged with Roger Capteyn the rectory of Mers-
tham for that of Hopesay in Shropshire, in the diocese of
Hereford?, In 1415 he was present in convocation and
exerted his influence to relieve from taxation the bene-
fices of Wales, as being impoverished by war. From
thence we have no further record of him until the year
1423, when he exchanged with David ap Jevan ap Mere-
dith Goch, on the 12th July, the living of Hopesay for
that of Tregruk or Tregreg, now Llangibby, in Mon-
mouthshire, about two miles south of Usk, in the diocese
of Liandaff*. Five years later, on the 12th July, 1428,
his estate in this benefice was ratified *.

Adam must by this time have been well stricken in
years, if we are right in our conjecture that he was born
about 1352. But he was yet to live a little longer. His
will, which has fortunately been preserved‘, was dated
on the 20th January, 1429-30; and it was proved on
the 26th March, 1430. He died probably in the seventy-
eighth year of his age. |

The text of the will is as follows :—

“In Dei nomine, amen. Vicesimo die mensis Januarii, anno
Domini millesimo cccc™° vicesimo nono, ego Adam Usk, legum

1 Lambeth Palace library: Chichele register, i. 61 b.

2 Pat. Rolls, 1 Hen. VI., iv. 16. 5 Ibid., 6 Hen. VI., i. 32.

‘ It has been printed in The English Historical Review, April, 1903.

XXX INTRODUCTION

doctor, compos et sanus memorie, timens mortis periculum michi
evenire, condo testamentum meum in hune modum: In primis
lego animani meam Deo, et beate Marie virgini, ac omnibus
sanctis ejus; corpusque meum ad sepeliendum in ecclesia paro-
chiali de Usk, coram ymagine beate Marie virginis. Item, lego
ecclesie parochiali predicte unum librum appellatum ‘ Racionale
divinorum.’ Item, lego domino Johanni, vicario de Usk, iij.s. iiij.d.
Item, lego cuilibet moniali prioratus de Usk xx.d. Item, lego
fratribus minoribus de Kerdeffe unum trentale, et tantum fra-
tribus predicatoribus ejusdem ville. Item, lego fratribus Augus-
tinensibus de Newport unum trentale. Item, lego ecclesie cathe-
drali Landavensi iij.s. iiij.d. Item, lego Edwardo ap Adam,
consanguineo meo, unum librum vocatum ‘ Policronica,’ Item,
lego Philippo Went c.s. Item, lego fratri meo xl.s. Item, lego
Griffino et Guyllym xl. s. Item, lego Meric ap Jevan ap
M[{eredith ?] et uxori sue iiij. li. Item, lego Johanne sorori mee
xl.s. Item, lego Johanni vab Jor[ werth] xx. s, Item, lego iiij.
filiis dicti Griffini, cuilibet illorum unum nobile. Item, lego
domino Griffino Vachan, capellano, iij. s. iiij. d. Item, lego
domino Johanni ap Guyllym xl. d. Item, lego Thome Went de
Castell Come xx. s. Item, lego Johanni ap David ap Griffin xx.
8., quas sibi accommodavi. Item, lego Thome ap M[eredith ?] v.
nobilia. Item, lego Wenllyan vjerch] David ap Griffin v. nobilia.
Item, lego Alicie v[erch] David ap Gr[iffin] v. nobilia. Item,
lego Jor|werth] ap Hopkyn v. nobilia. Item, lego M[eredith?] ap
Jor[werth] v. nobilia. Residuum vero omnium bonorum meorum
non legatorum lego dicto Edwardo et sue disposicioni; quem.
ordino, facio, et constituo, ad exequendum presens testamen-
tum, meum executorem. In cujus rei testimonium huic presenti
testamento meo sigillum meum apposui. Hiis testibus, dicto
Johanne filio Willelmi, Johanne Bays, et Thoma ap Jor[werth],
ac multis aliis. Datum apud Usk, die, mense, anno supra-
dictis.” +

The item in the will which, for our present purpose,
has the chief interest is Adam’s bequest to his kins-
man, Edward ap Adam (who was also his residuary
legatee and executor), of the “Policronica,’ now the
Additional MS. 10,104 in the British Museum, which has
_+ Probate Registry, Somerset House, ‘‘Lufnam ” register, fo. 13.

INTRODUCTION Xxxl

been fully described above. The only other book named
in the will is a copy of the “ Rationale divinorum offi-
ciorum” of Durandus, bishop of Mende, which is left
to the church of Usk, the vicar also receiving a legacy
of 3s. 4d. To each nun of Usk priory, the establishment
in whose interest we have seen Adam exerting himself
at the papal court, and among whose inmates were some
of his kinswomen, he leaves a remembrance of 1s. 8d.
The three confraternities of the friars minors and the
friars preachers of Cardiff and the Austin friars of New-
port receive each a “trentale,’ or money sufficient to
provide for thirty masses for the good of the soul of
the deceased; and to the cathedral church of Llandaff
there is a legacy of 3s.4d. Among the individuals who
benefit under the will, it is interesting to find a brother
of Adam (whose name has been omitted) and a sister Joan.
Judging by the bequests of the will, it seems that the
testator was not ill-provided with this world’s goods.
The total amount of the money legacies, exclusive of
that left to the nuns of Usk which we have no means
of computing, is £28 6s. 8d.

In accordance with the wish expressed in his will,
Adam was buried in Usk church, where there still exists
a brass, consisting of a long strip of metal engraved with
an inscription in two lines, which is undoubtedly a por-
tion of his epitaph, in the Welsh tongue.

This brass has been for generations a puzzle to anti-
quaries and philologists. In 1773, a notice of it, ac-
companied by a very imperfect facsimile, appeared in
Archaeologia, vol. ij, in a paper on the Julia Strata
communicated to the Society of Antiquaries by the
Reverend William Harris, who quotes an interpretation
by Dr. Wotton which discovers in the inscription the

xxxii INTRODUCTION

epitaph of a certain Solomon the Astrologer connected
with a school of philosophers well skilled in astronomy
and all other sciences and established at Caerleon ar
Wysk before the coming of the Saxons. Knowing our
Adam as well as we do, this solution of the riddle is
irresistibly ludicrous. Gough, in his edition of Camden’s
Britannia (1789), vol. ij. p. 487, repeats Archaeologia.
In 1801 Coxe, in his Historical Tour in Monmouthshire,
p. 418, gave a better facsimile and quoted previous inter-
pretations, also adding others. Next, the Cambrian
Archaeological Association turned its attention to the
brass and printed further observations in the Archaeo-
logia Cambriensis, vol. ij. (1847) p. 34; and finally, in
1885, it was again before the Association (Arch. Cambr.,
5th series, vol. ij. p. 844), when Canon (now Archdeacon)
Thomas claimed it as the epitaph of our chronicler.

I am indebted for my first knowledge of this important
record of Adam of Usk to my friend, the Reverend OC. H.
Middleton-Wake, who, when visiting Usk church not
long after the first publication of the chronicle, observed
in the brass the name of “ Adam Yske,” and rightly con-
jectured that it concerned our Adam. Recently the
Venerable David Richard Thomas, archdeacon of Mont-
gomery, has had the kindness to communicate with me
on its identification.

From what has been stated, it is obvious that the
reading and interpretation of the inscription leave ample
room for conjecture; and the task presents difficulties
even to so learned and experienced a scholar as Professor
Rhfs, of Oxford, who has kindly favoured me with the
following observations and rendering :—

“The rubbing from Adam of Usk’s epitaph seems to
read as follows:

INTRODUCTION XXXill

(1) ’Nole clode yrethrode yar lleyn |
(2) aduocade Nawnhade llundeyn |
(3) A barnour bede breynt apilet |
(4) ynev a ro ty hanabe.

(5) Seliff sunnoeir suniase |

(6) adam yske ev al kuske |

(7) Deke kummode doctor kymmen |
(8) len aloei lawn oleue.

“T have divided the two long lines of the brass into
four short ones each, and have numbered them accord-
ingly for the sake of convenience. The orthography is
Franco-English, more or less consistently, but there are
certain errors in the spelling which must probably be
ascribed to the man who engraved the epitaph. He
would seem to have had it written out for him in the
sort of handwriting with which one is familiar in the
Red Book of Hergest. The first slip occurs in the first
line: the first r should be v. Then I come to line 8,
where I cannot help thinking apilet should be apeleit.
I must confess, however, that even then the line does
not seem at all satisfactory. In line 4 the last word was
possibly written haneve and intended to rhyme with
oleue at the end of line 8. But the engraver apparently
misread the v into b, which was a very natural error to
make in that hand, while his substitution of a for e was
due to carelessness. In line 6 for /k read w: a glance at
the w’s in any English or Welsh MS. of the period will
explain at once how easy it was to commit this mistake.
In line 8 the metre requires loei to be a dissyllable; and
I think the spelling should have been lowe or loie, for I
am inclined to regard it as lowe, to be equated with the
book Welsh form oleuei, ‘would light’ or ‘was wont to
light’; but it is not to be concealed that there are other
possibilities.

“ After these remarks by way of preface, I would, with
the utmost diffidence, transcribe the epitaph into modern
Welsh and translate it into English as follows :—

Cc

XXXIV INTRODUCTION

‘Nol clod i feddrod i ar Main From fame to a grave above,
the strip (comes)

Adfocad llawnhad Llundain. An advocate, the fullness of
London.

A barnwr byd braint apél it The world’s Judge, by right of
appeal, to thee

Y nef a ro, ty anau (?) Grant heaven, the house of
songs (?)
Selyf synnwyr syniasai The wisdom by Solomon cogi-
tated—
Adam Ysk ef a wiscai With it Adam of Usk was in-
vested ;
Dug gymod, doctor cymen With him he brought concord,
discreet doctor,
Llen a ’leuai llawn olau.’ A torch full bright he lit in

the world of letters.’

“TI do not know what to make of lleyn, except to treat
it as llain, ‘a strip,’ say here of coloured tiles in the floor,
and if so it would seem that the author of the epitaph
wished to specify where Adam’s grave was situated.

“Why the epigrapher wrote his Welsh in a non-Welsh
orthography is not very evident; probably he was not
familiar with Welsh spelling. But neither was he quite
consistent with himself: witness, for instance, the asson-
ance disguised by using y and uw in Yske and wuske.
Speaking more generally, he had not mastered the literary
language, and he certainly did not understand the cyng-
hanedd or consonance of a Welsh englyn. Nevertheless, he
has left us the oldest epitaph I have heard of, as written
in Welsh; and, so far as it goes, nothing could surpass it
in interest as a specimen of the pronunciation of the
Gwentian dialect of the language in the Middle Ages.” }

1 Professor Rhfs adds the following note: “Since the above was set
up in type I have had an opportunity of submitting it to a friend,
who has improved on it at more points than one. In later spelling
his version would read as follows :—

’Nol clod ddu ethrod ddarllein A barnwr byd breint a piler
Advocad Jlawnhad Llundein Y ner a vo yth arwein.

INTRODUCTION XXXV

Here, then, we bid farewell to our garrulous old friend,
whose complacent vanity, we feel certain, would have
been mightily soothed and flattered, could he but have
foreseen that his epitaph (particularly if, as is not un-
likely, he composed it himself) would in after ages have
been the subject of so much learned discussion.

As a contribution to history, Adam of Usk’s chronicle
is too brief and too disconnected to take a very important
position. Its chief value consists in its personal interest ;
and it has an advantage over the ordinary mediaeval
chronicle in being the work of an independent individual,
and not that of a monastic compiler who had to adopt
and reflect the politics of his house. Adam of Usk moved
in the world; he was a priest and a lawyer, he pleaded
in the courts, he spoke in convocation, and he came into
personal contact with some of the most important men
of his day; and happily he had vanity enough to think
his personal experiences not unworthy of taking a place
among the general events of his time.

The chronicle commences with a series of imperfect
notes of some of the principal events of Richard’s reign
previous to 1394—jottings from memory, which Adam
himself warns us are not to be regarded as continuous
historical narrative. His apology for the scanty character
of his early pages might also be applied to other parts
of his work, which is in fact a roughly-cast compilation,

Selyf synnwyr syniasei Deg kymmod doctor kymmen

Adam Ysk ef ae dyscei Llen a léei llawn oleuei.

‘Thus it will be seen he regards the errors in the epitaph as more
numerous than I had assumed. He also mends the metre, and by
reading two of the y’s as th (=Welsh dd) he gets rid of the awkward
yar lleyn which becomes ddarlleyn, ‘reading.’ But even then we
are left with difficulties of which neither of us has been able to
dispose.”

XXXVI INTRODUCTION

but not composed all at once, some of the events having
been recorded at the time of their occurrence, while the
descriptions of others have evidently been written at
later times when the recollection of them was no longer
fresh in the writer’s mind. Hence the chronological
sequence is in places at fault; and at the end of the
chronicle there are careless repetitions. Had Adam
revised his work, these imperfections would no doubt
have disappeared; but he left others to publish “this
record of his foolishness,’ and his literary executor
appears to have thought it enough to transcribe the
material as it stood. .

There are three several subjects of interest which,
before all others, form the most prominent features in
Adam’s work: the fall and deposition of Richard; the
occurrences at Rome during the period of the writer’s
residence there; and the rebellion of Owen Glendower
and contemporary affairs in Wales.

The detailed account of Richard’s last parliament in
1397, with which the continuous historical narrative
practically leads off, is borrowed from the chronicle of
the Monk of Evesham; but this appropriation, it is fair
to suggest, need not be regarded so much as a theft as
a testimony to the accuracy of that history, Adam himself
having been present during the proceedings. It is also
Adam’s personal share in the subsequent events which
culminated in Richard’s deposition that renders his
account of things at this time so valuable as well as
interesting. |

His compulsory sojourn at Rome happened at an
important period of papal history—the period of the
death of Boniface the ninth, and of the succession of
Innocent the seventh and his quarrel with the Romans

INTRODUCTION XXXVii

and his flight from the city and subsequent return. These
events afford our chronicler an opportunity for describing
various public ceremonies, which naturally had an attrac-
tion for him as a stranger, and of which he gives some
curious details.

But, as a Welshman, Adam takes special notice of
events in his native country, and his account of the
progress of Glendower’s rebellion contains many details
of value. Although he speaks of the national hero and
his following with some contempt, at the same time he
evinces a natural sympathy with the sufferings of his
countrymen at the hands of the invading English; and,
as already observed, the fact of his taking refuge with
Glendower, while in disgrace with Henry, after his
return from Rome, suggests an earlier understanding
between them. Perhaps it was to some connection of
this nature that Adam owed his knowledge of Owen’s
letters of appeal to the king of Scotland and the Irish
chieftains, which he incorporates in his chronicle.

Other documents of interest of which Adam gives the
text are: sir Thomas Dymock’s petition for the cham-
pionship at the coronation of Henry the fourth ; the case
submitted for Adam of Usk’s opinion on the question of
the restoration of queen Isabella’s dower; and the letter
of remonstrance addressed to Henry the fourth by his
confessor Philip Repyngdon, the abbot of Leicester.

Lastly, a passing reference may be made to the
chronicle of the defeat of the French by the Flemings
at the battle of Courtrai, drawn up in the form of
a parody of the Gospel narrative of the Passion of our
Lord, and transcribed from a MS. at Bruges. That Adam
should have incorporated it in his chronicle without
comment and apparently with indifference to its offensive

XXXVili INTRODUCTION

character is an instance of the seeming lack of reverence,
according to modern ideas, for things sacred which is
sometimes observable in the middle ages, when the
employment of Bible history as the vehicle for the
miracle-play and the passion-play naturally exposed it
to the danger of vulgarly familiar treatment.

E. M. T.

BritisH Museum,
January, 1904.

CHRONICON
ADZ DE USK

CHRONICON
AD#Z# DE USK

PREDICTO gracioso Edwardo, in vigilia Natalis Sancti
Johannis Baptiste, anno regni sui quinquagesimo secundo,
ab hac vita subtracto, ipsius nepos, Ricardus, Edwardi
principis Wallie, dicti regis primogeniti, filius, undecim
annorum pupillus, inter omnes mortales ac si secundus
Apsalon pulcherimus, ei successit, aput Westmonasterium
in festo Sancti Kenelmi coronatus.

Isti Ricardo, regni sui tempore, plura votive inclita fere-
bantur, Et, quia tenere etatis existebat, alii, ipsius et
regni curam habentes, lascivias, extorciones, intollerabiles
injurias regno irrogare non desistebant. Unde illud accidit
monstruosum, ut plebei’ regni, et potissime Cancie et
Essexie, sub misero duce Jac Straw, in regni dominos et
regis Officiarios, hujusmodi injurias et potissime taxaci-
onum et collectarum, ut asserruerunt, sufferre non valentes,
in multitudine onerosa? insurgendo, Londoniam, in vigilia
Corporis Christi, anno Domini millesimo ecc° octogesimo
primo, venerunt ; et magistrum Symonem Sudbyry, Can-
tuariensem archiepiscopum, tunc regis cancellarium, et
dominum Robertum Hale, ejus thesaurarium, pluresque
alios juxta turrim Londonie decapitarunt; ubi adhuc, in
locis decapitacionis dictorum dominorum, in tanti prodigii
memoriam, due cruces marmoree eriguntur, in perpetuum
durature.

1 pleibei. MS. ? onorosa, MS.

A.D. 1877.
f. 155.

A.D. 1381.

Jac Straw.

Cancel-
larii et
thesau-
rarii deca-
pitacio.

A.D. 1381.
f. 155 b.

Pilius car-
dinalis,

2 CHRONICON

In isto plebeiorum tumultu plures regni magnates quam
pluribus regni partibus fuerunt decapitati. Ducis Lancas-
trie palacium, regni pulcherimum, Savoy nuncupatum,
prope Londoniam super Thamisii ripam, quia plebeiis exosi,
per ipsos totaliter igne extitit destructum. Ipseque dux,
ipsorum metu territus, in Scosiam fugam arripuit. Quibus
ad placandum ', ipsorumque ferocitatem ad sedandum?, rex
concessit omnem servilem condicionem, tam in personis
quam eorum operis, de regno a cetero extirpari*, liber-
tatem penitus concedendam, omnesque incarceratos liberari.
Hocque ubique in regni comitatibus publice mandavit et
fecit proclamari. O quantus regni desolati tunc vibrabatur
luctus! Quia omnes regni nobiliores interficere*, ex seipsis
regem et dominos erigere, novas leges condere, et breviter
tocius insule et ejus superficiem statumque renovare, ymmo
verius deturpare, jactabant. Quisque sibi exosum decapi-
tabat; si diciorem, spoliabat. Tamen, Deo mediante, dicti
eorum ducis in Smythfelde juxta Londoniam, regique
capicium non deponentis nec ipsius regis magestatem in
aliquo reverentis, in suorum milvorum® medio, subtiliter
per dominum Wyllelmum Walworth, militem, Londoni-
ensem civem, capite amputato et subito in gladii mucrone
publice erecto et eis ostenso, ipsi plebeii penitus territi, sub-
terfugia videlicet querentes, ibidem ipsorum invasivis
dimissis armis, ac si hujusmodi tumultus et facinoris
inmunes, miserabiliter, tanquam vulpes ad foveas, ad pro-
pria remearunt. Quos rex et domini insequentes, quosdam
post equuos trahendo, quosdam gladiis trucidando, quosdam
ad furcas suspendendo, quosdam membratim dividendo, ad
milia trucidarunt.

Isto eodem anno, venit quidam in Angliam dictus Pilius,
tituli Sancte® Praxedis presbiter cardinalis, ad tractandum
cum concilio Anglie, ex parte imperatoris Almanie, regis
Boemie, de et super matrimonio inter regem nostrum pre-

1 placendum. MS. 2 cedandum. MS. 8 exturpari. MS.
* interfecere. MS. 5 mulvorum. MS. ° sancti. MS.

ADA DE USK 8

dictum et dominam Annam, dicti imperatoris sororem, A.D. 1881.

postea ex eo capite Anglie reginam benignissimam, licet
sine prole defunctam. Ineundo cardinalis iste, false se
fingens legatum a latere esse ac potestatem pape habere,
vices papales tunc excercuit ; me inter cetera notarium tune,
licet inutiliter, in domo fratrum predicacionis Londonie,
ubi tune morabatur, creavit. Infinitam pecuniam sic col-
legit, et ab Anglia cum eadem pecunia, eodem tractatu
matrimonii expedito, ad sui recessit dampnacionem ; cre-
dens tamen, licet in vanum, facta sua hujusmodi per
papam ratificari’, Post cujus recessum, dicta domina
Anna, per dominum regem magno precio redempta, quia
a rege Francie in uxorem affectata, in Angliam et Anglie
reginam transmittitur coronanda.

Salamonis juxta proverbium, “Ve regno cujus rex puer
est,” ? ejusdem Ricardi juventutis tempore, plurima infor-
tunia, propter eam causata pariter et contingencia, regnum
Anglie non cessarunt perturbare, ut premittitur et inferius
plenius notabitur, usque ad magnam ejusdem regni con-
fusionem * ipsiusque Ricardi regis sibique nimis voluptuose

adherencium finalem destruccionem. Inter cetera infortunia, -

ymmo omnium scelerum sceleratissima, in fide scilicet catho-
lica errorum et heresum, per semina cujusdam magistri Jo-
hannis Wycleff, pestifere doctrine velud lollio eandem fidem
corrumpentis, Anglia et potissime Londonia et Bristolia exti-
terunt corrupte. Cujus magistri Johannis, ut Machomdus,
discipuli, potentibus et divitibus placabilia, decimarum
scilicet et oblacionum retencionem, ac temporalium a clero
ablacionem, juvenibusque incontinenciam, meritorias exis-
tere predicando, multas clades, insidias, rixas et conten-
ciones et sediciones, adhuc durantes et, ut timeo, usque ad
regni confusionem duraturas, nefandissime seminarunt.
Unde, in pluribus regni partibus, et precipue Londonia

1 radificari. MS,
* Eccles. x. 16, More correctly, “ Ve tibi, terra, cujus rex puer est.”
° confucionem. MS,

B 2

A.D, 1382.

Rex emit
sibi uxo-
rem.

A.D, 13882.

Vitulus
Oreb.

f. 156.

Lollardia.

A.D. 1386.

A.D. 1387.

4 CHRONICON

et Bristolia, velud Judei ad montem Oreb, propter vitulum
conflatilem (Exodi xxxij°.), mutuo in se revertentes, xxiij.
milium de suis miserabilem pacientes casum merito dolue-
runt. Anglici inter se de fide antiqua et nova altercantes
omni die sunt in puncto? quasi mutuo ruinam et sedi-
cionem inferendi. Et timeo ita finaliter contingere, ut sic
prius contingebat, quod plures Londonienses fideles contra
dictum ducem Lancastrie, quia dicti magistri Johannis
fautorem, ad ejus interfeccionem insurrexerant, ita quod,
vix unam naviculam captatam intrans, a prandio ultra
Thamisiam affugiens vivus evasit. Hujusmodi errores et
hereses in civitate Londonie in tantum excreverunt, quia
hujusmodi occasione rixe et discordia, quod, quando infamati
super eisdem coram ordinariis venirent responsuri, populus
ad mille, quidam ad acusandum, quidam ad defendendum
eosdem, conviciis et rixis confluere solebant, quasi mutuo
irruere properantes. Crevit eciam eorum malicia in tantum
quod, tempore secundi parlementi Henrici regis quinti®
infrascripti, quod hujusmodi Lollardi ex omni parte regni
Londonie congregati proposuerunt se clerum, ad tune ibidem
convocatum, penitus destruxisse. Sed dominus meus Can-
tuariensis eorum malicie precautus remedia paravit opor-
tuna, ut inferius liquebit.

Propter plurima inoportuna eee regis Ricardi, ejus
juventute causata, solempne parliamentum Westmonasterii
fuit celebratum, in quo duodecim regni magnates ad guber-
nandum regem et regnum, ac ad refrenandum laciviam et
excessus sibi famulancium et adulancium, et breviter ad
reoni negocia remediandum, plena parliamenti provisione,
sed, pro dolor !, ad infrascripta tedia, prefecti extiterunt.

Rex hujusmodi prefeccione indignans sue magestatis
libertatem debitam per suos ligeos refrenari, ad instiga-
cionem sibi famulancium, propter eorundem turpis lucri
suspensionem ob hoe invidencium, usque ad ejusdem regis

? Bristolie. MS. 3 pincto. MS.
5 quarti. MS. See below, pp. 121, 122.

ADA DE USK 5

sicque instigancium pluriumque dictorum prefectorum A.D. 1387.
exterminium, dictos prefectos infestare non cessavit. Ex
quo, pro dolor !, quanti dolores et tedia fuerunt insecuta, et
presertim de morte illorum nobilium, ducis Glowcestrie
et comitis Arundelie, plenius infra liquebit. Ut quid mora ?
Dicti instigantes, ad suffocacionem subitaneam dictorum
duodecim prefectorum, unum concilium generale in turri
Londonie celebrari ordinarunt, in quo dictos xij. per latentes
armatorum insidias, ad idem concilium convocatos, simul
et subito perimere proposuerunt. Sed Deus omnipotens
dictos xij., de tanta malicia precautos, tam fortiter accedere
disposuit, ita ut per industriam militarem eorundem rex et
ipsum instigantes perturbati regnum assurgere cum eisdem
xij. timuerunt ; unde pacem, licet fictam, se habere procura-
runt. Hoc audito, domina principissa, regis mater, ad
hujusmodi tumultum sedandum }, nocturno labori non par-
cens, a Walingforde versus Londoniam, cordis non modica
contricione, iter arrepuit. Que Londonie flexis genibus
filium suum regem rogavit, sub sua benediccione, se votis
adulancium et presertim dictorum instigancium nullatenus
inclinare, alias malediccionem suam sibi induxit. Quam
rex reverenter erexit, promittens se juxta dictorum xij.
velle gubernari consilium. Cui dixit mater: “ Alias in
coronacione tua, fili, gaudebam me tanti nati in regem
coronati matrem promeruisse fieri; sed jam doleo, quia tui
ruinam video imminere, per maledictos adulatores tuos
tibi causatam.” Tunc rex cum matre sua ad aulam West-
monasterii transsiens, et ibidem in trono regali sedens,
eosdem duodecim, licet tamen ficte et dissimulatorie, per
matris mediacionem reconciliavit.

Postmodum, comes Oxonie cum litteris regiis ad partes Fuga co-
transit Cestrie, et ipsos Cestrienses in multitudine glome- a cs
rosa et armata pro destruccione dictorum xij. secum adduxit. ™™-
Cujus rei dux Gloweestrie, comes Derbeie, Arundelie, Not-
ingamie, et Warwycie, precauti, in glorioso exercitu stipati,

1 cedandum. MS.

A.D. 1387.

f. 156 b.

Claves
civitatis.

A.D. 1388.

A.D. 1883.

6 CHRONICON

ante eorum Cestrensium excessum ad regem, dictum comitis
exercitum, in vigilia Sancti Thome Appostoli, aput Ratcod-
bruch in comitatu Oxonie, disperserunt ; ac dictum comitem
Oxonie in fugam sine spe redeundi, quia in partibus trans-
marinis interiit, propulerunt. Fugerunt eciam tunc a facie
eorundem dominorum Alexander Nevile, Ebrocensis archi-
episcopus, et dominus Michael de Pole, comes Southfolchie,
maximi regis consiliarii; et nunquam reversuri in exilio
perierunt.

Tune presencium compilator Oxonie, in jure canonico
extraordinarius existens, dictorum quinque dominorum
excercitum a dicto conflictu versus Londoniam transire
vidit per Oxoniam; in cujus exercitus gubernacione,
Warwyci et Derbeie primam aciem comites, dux Glowces-
trie mediam, ac Arundelie et Notyngamie posteram comites
tenebant.

Major Londonie, ipsorum adventum audiens, eis civitatis
claves transmisit. Quo facto, dicti quinque domini turrem.
Londonie, in festo Sancti Johannis Evangeliste, usque ad
ejus dedicionem obsiderunt; regem in ea existentem ad:
statim sub nova gubernacione ordinarunt ; ipsius adulato-
rios consiliarios, usque ad parliementum proxime ex tunc
sequens, dispersis carcerum custodiis tradiderunt. In cras-
tinum Purificacionis Beate Marie Virginis dictos fugientes
exularunt. Omnes regis justiciarios, quia mortis eorundem
imaginate, ut premittitur, conscios’, ipsiusque regis con-
fessorem, Cicestrensem episcopum, in Hiberniam deporta-
runt, Alios ipsius regis? suis excessibus inordinatos
fautores, ymmo verius causatores, dominos Symonem de
Beverley, ejus camerarium, Robertum Tresilian, princi-
palem justiciarium, Nycholaum Brembil, Londonie majorem,
Jacobum Berners et Johannem Salusbiri, milites, Thomam
Usk et Johannem Blake, domicellos, et alios quam plures
decapitarunt.

Hujus regis temporibus, propter scisma papatus, episcopus

1 consios. MS. 2 rege. MS.

ADA DE USK 7

Norwycensis cum cruciata in Flandriam transit, et ibidem
Flandrenses circa novem mille, quia Gallicis scismaticis
adherentes, bellicoso peremit insultu ; tamen partes deserere
et ad propriam remeare regis Francie et ejus excercitus
potencia, pluribus Anglicis ad tune ventris fluxu [morien-
tibus], compellebatur.

Dux eciam Lancastrie, regnum Hispanie jure uxoris sue
sibi vendicans, cum alia cruciata per duos annos post ad
eas partes transiit; ubi plures regni Anglie nobiliores et
quasi ipsius juventutis flores militares eodem morbo amisit ;
tamen cum rege Hispanie, pro uno ducatu ad ipsius vite
terminum habendo ac magna auri summa pro expensis,
ipsiusque filia dicti regis filio et heredi collocata in uxorem,
rediit in Angliam pacificatus.

_Hiis diebus magnum infortunium Oxonie contingebat ;
nam per biennium continue maxima discordia inter au-
strales et Walences ex una parte et boriales ex altera
extitit suborta. Unde rixe, contenciones, et hominum
sepe interfecciones extiterunt, Primo anno, boriales ab uni-
versitate totaliter fuerant expulsii Quam expulsionem
presencium compilatori multum imposuerunt. Secundo
tamen anno, in mala eorum hora, Oxoniam regressi, noc-
tanter congregati, nobis exitum ab hospiciis armis ne-
gantes, nos multipliciter per duos dies infestarunt, quedam
nostratum hospicia frangendo expoliandoque, ac quosdam
occidendo. Tercio tamen die, aule Mertonis favore no-
strates fortiter constipati ipsos stratas publicas, per eos
illis duobus diebus pro castris occupatas, verecunde relin-
quere et ad propria hospicia affugere compulerunt. Quid
mora? Pacificari non potuimus quousque nostrum quam
plures de insurrexione proditoria indictati fuimus; inter
quos presencium compilator, tanquam principalis Walen-
cium dux et fautor, et forte non inmerito, indictatus fuerat.
Sicque indictati, vix per duodenam nos obtinuimus coram
regis justiciario liberari. Regem de cetero, mihi prius in
ipsius potencia ignotum, et ejus leges timui, maxillis meis

A.D. 1883.

A.D.1386-
1388.

A.D. 1388,
1389.

Boriales
ab Oxonia
expulsi.
Rixa Oxo-
nie inter
scolares.

A.D, 1879,

f. 157.

A.D. 1872.

Versus.

A.D. 1885.

AD, 1894.

8 CHRONICON

frenum imponendo?. Aliud eciam infortunium continge-
bat: nam ille nobilis miles, dominus Johannes Arundele,
versus partes Francie debellandas cum florida juventute
patrie directus, quassata classe in vigilia Sancti Nicholai,
pro dolor!, miserabili maris intemperie, peremptus extitit.
Causa infortunii sui pecuniis clero et populo exactis non
inmerito imponebatur.

Semper a tempore hujusmodi exaccionis, taxe vocate,
regnum memini aut intestinis cladibus atque transmarinis
insidiis nonnulla infortunia sustinere. Numquid sic de
comite Pembrogie, cum taxa secum ad debellandum Fran-
ciam deportata, cum suis juxta Rochel depredato et in
Hispaniam? captivato? Idem de rege Edwardo contigit,
qui, collectatis clero et populo, cum magno excersitu Fran-
ciam invadere affectans, adversante vento, licet juxta mari-
tima ejus prosperitatem per vj. menses expectans, inutiliter
rediit cum excersitu, ut superius habetur de eodem. Contra
eam taxam ecce quid Bridlintonensis prophesia :—

“Dum regnat taxa, non erit gracia laxa ;
Sic opus inceptum lapsum pacietur * ineptum.” *

Et sic, pro dolor!, labi dinoscitur. Eciam a facie istius
regis Ricardi ille vir perfectissimus, Wyllelmus Cortenay,
Cantuariensis archiepiscopus, quia hujusmodi taxe recistere
volens, per eundem regem in Thamesia persecutus, mortem
fugiens in monastico habitu, partes Devonie peciit pro
tutamine ; tamen hujusmodi regis persecucionem causantes
mala morte interierunt, de quibus supra, ut domino Symone
Beverley et de aliis.

Ordini annorum hucusque in gestis parcat lector, quia
solum que vidi et audivi forcius ex veritate facti quam ex
temporis ordine memorie comendavi.

Anno Domini millesimo ccc™? nonogesimo quarto, in
festo Pentecostes, moriebatur illa benignissima domina,

1 Ezek. xxix. 4; xxxviij. 4. 2 in Hispaniam, repeated. MS.
* pascietur. MS. * Dist. 111. cap. ij.

ADH DE USK 9

Anna, Anglie regina, in manerio de Schene juxta Braynfort A.D. 1394.

super Thamesiam situato. Quod manerium, licet regale et
pulcherimum, occasione ipsius domine Anne mortis in
eodem contingentis, rex Ricardus funditus mandavit et
fecit extirpari.' Post ejus Anne sepulture solempnitatem,
in crastino ad Vincula Sancti Petri, debitis honoribus
decoratam, statim rex, lugubri veste cum suis indutus, ad
domandum Hybernencium rebellionem, maximo excersitu
constipatus, transit in Hiberniam. Sed modicum ibi pro-
fecit, quia, licet Hiberniences sibi ad votum placere tunc se
fingentes, statim post ejus recessum rebellare noscuntur.

Eodem anno, in fine Maii, rex rediit in Angliam, Bristolie
aplicando ; et statim nuncios in Franciam pro secundo ejus
maritagio, de quo infra liquebit, direxit contrahendo.
Quam filiam nondum septennem, regis Aragonie filia,
ipsius herede, pulcherima et virilibus amplexibus ydonea,
refusa, mirabiliter duxit uxorem. Set quare illam non-
dum septennem ’, licet cum maximis expensis et seculi
pompis Caliciis sibi nuptam, preelegit, dicitur quia regis
Francie auxilio et favore, latens suum venenum effundere
affectando, sibi exosos destruere proposuit ; quod tamen
ad suimet destruccionem suorumque complicum finaliter
contingebat, ut inferius patebit.

Parliementum tentum Londonie, aput Westmonasterium,
in festo Sancti Lamberti, die Lune tune contingentis, anno
Domini millesimo ccec™ nongesimo septimo. In quo parlie-
mento omni die presensium compilator interfuit.

In primis, facta pronunciacione parliamenti, ad modum
sermonis, per Edmundum Stafford, episcopum Exoniensem,
cancellarium, in qua semper concludebat* ad unum, quod
potestas regis esset sibi unica et solida et quod eam tol-
lentes vel insidiantes pena legis essent condigni. Unde ad
illum finem fuit per parliamentum ordinatum: primo, ad
inquirendum qui turbant potestatem regis et ejus regaliam ;

’ exturpari. MS. 2 septendem. MS. 5 conolidebat. MS.

A.D. 1395.

A.D. 1896.

A.D. 1897.
Ultimum
parlie-
mentum
regis
Ricardi.

A.D, 1897.

f. 157 b.

Regia
perdo-
nacio re-
vocatur.

10 CHRONICON

secundo?, qua pena essent turbatores feriendi ; tercium, ut
ordinetur ne ita in futurum turbetur. Et statim rex jussit
plebeiis quod statim et ante recessum convenirent de locu-
tore parliamenti, et in crastino ad viij. de clocka eum sibi
presentarent. Item, rex fecit proclamari graciam omnibus
in premissis incidentibus, 1. personis et aliis in isto parlie-
mento impetendis duntaxat exceptis, dum tamen citra
festum Sancti Hillari literas sue perdonacionis prosequan-
tur cum effectu. Fecit eciam proclamari quod nullus de
cetero, sub pena mortis, arma invasiva vel deffensiva gesta-
ret in parliamento, immediata domini nostri regis retinecia
excepta. Item, die Martis, dominus Johannes Buschei fuit
per plebeios presentatus regi locutor parliamenti, debita
protestacione premissa; et rex eum acceptavit.

Item, ad statim ille Buschei dixit regi: “Quia [sumus,
domine mi rex, precepto vestro reverendo onerati vestre
celsitudini regie intimare qui sunt]? qui contra majestatem
et regaliam vestram commiserunt, dicimus quia Thomas
dux Glowcestrie, Ricardus comes Arundelie, anno regni
vestri decimo, proditorie compulerunt vos, per medium nunc
Cantuariensis archiepiscopi, tunc cancellarii, graves inju-
rias vobis inferentes, concedere unam eis commissionem ad
gubernandum regnum vestrum ac ejus statum disponendum,
in prejudicium vestre magestatis ac regalie.”

Item, eodem die, ipsa commissio fuit annullata cum om-
nibus et singulis ex ea dependentibus et per eam causatis.

Item, generalis perdonacio concessa post magnum parlia~
mentum, causata® per eos, et una specialis perdonacio con-
cessa domino comiti Arundelie fuerant revocate. Item,
fuit per plebeios petitum, Johanne Buschei verba semper
proferente, quia illa specialis perdonacio pro proditore fuit
impetrata per Thomam Arundell, Cantuariensem archiepis-

1 secunda. MS.

? Supplied from the Vita Ricardi IT. of the Monk of Evesham, p. 182.
The MS. has only the words, ‘‘sumus honorati.”

5 causatur. MS.

ADH DE USK 11

copum, tune cancellarium Anglie, ipsius impetrator’, qui
pocius ex officio restitisset, proditor adjudicaretur. Idem-
que archiepiscopus surrexit volens respondere ; et rex dixit
sibi: “Cras.” De cetero tamen ibi non comparuit. Rex
eciam super ista peticione dixit quod vellet deliberare.

Item, fuit statutum quod convictus* de cetero contra rega-
liam domini regis falsus proditor, pena prodicionis * condigna
sibi irroganda, adjudicaretur. Item, fuit statutum, de con-
sensu prelatorum, quod criminalia de cetero, eorum irre-
quisito concensu, in omni parliamento essent terminanda.
Et tune, habita licencia, recesserunt.

Magnus, ut solet, habebatur tumultus; unde sagittarii regis
in numero iiij* millia cireumvallantes domum parliementi,
in medio paviamenti palacii ex hoc capite tantum factum,
credentes fuisse in dicta domo aliquam rixam aut pugnam,
arcubus tensis *, sagittas ad aures trahebant, ad magnum
metum omnium ibidem excistencium ; et rex eos pacificavit.

Item, die Mercurii®, dictum statutum prelatorum fuit
penitus revocatum ; et fuit eis jussum, sub pena amissionis
temporalium, pro stabilitate agendorum in eodem parlie-
mento, quod illo eodem die concordarent de aliquo certo
procuratore ad consenciendum, nomine eorum, omnibus in
eodem parliamento expediendis.

Item, rex habuit ista verba: “ Domine Johannes Buschey,
quia plures rogant me explanare illas 1. personas in perdo-
nacione generali exceptas, breviter nolo; et hoc petens est
morte condignus. Primo quia fugerent; secundo, eciam
quia excepi impetendos in isto parliamento; tertio, quia
per expressionem illorum alii eorum socii timerent, ubi non
esset timendum.”

Item, die Jovis, dominus Cantuariensis venit ad palacium
versus parliamentum ; et rex misit sibi per episcopum Kar-
lionensem quod rediret ad hospicium suum ; et factum est
ita, et de cetero non comparuit.

} ipsum impetratus. MS. 7? convicteus. MS. * perdicionis. MS.
* detensis. MS. 5 Mercure. MS.

A.D. 1897,

A.D. 1897.
Prelati in
criminali-
bus per
procura-
torem, etc.

f. 158.

12 CHRONICON

Item, prelati fecerunt dominum Thomam Percy, senes-
callum regis, procuratorem suum, cum clausulis de ratis, ad
consenciendum omnibus in parliamento agendis.

Item, dominus Johannes Buchey habuit ista verba:
“ Domine rex, quia secundus articulus parliementi est de
pena imponenda violantibus regaliam vestram, suplico quod
me per viam appellacionis, accusacionis, sive impeticionis,
cum licencia variandi de uno ad reliquum, quociens et
quando mihi et sociis meis videbitur expedire, auctorizare
dignemini.” Et factum est ita. Tunc ille Buschei habuit
ista verba: “Ego accuso Thomam Arundell, archiepiscopum
Cantuariensem, de triplici prodicione. Primo, de commis-
sione regiminis regni vestri sibi, Thome duci Glowcestrie,
Ricardo comiti Arundellie, ad instanciam suam et per
ipsum, qui pocius ex officio, quia cancellarius vester ad
tunc, restitisset, proditorie concessa’. Secundo, quia pre-
textu illius proditorie commissionis, vestre regalie juris-
diccionem prodiciose usurpando, ipsi solempne parliamen-
tum in prejudicium regalie vestre proditorie celebrarunt.
Tercio, quia per dictam prodicionis usurpacionem domini
Symon de Beverlei et Jacobus Bernyers, milites et fideles
ligii vestri, proditorie fuerunt interfecti. De quibus nos
plebeii vestri petimus judicium, tantis prodicionibus con-
dignum, in ipsum per vos fulminari, Et, quia ipse archi-
episcopus magnarum consanguinitatis, affinitatis, divicia-
rum, ingeniique cautelissimi et crudelissimi vir excistit, in
salvacionem status vestri tociusque regni vestri et expe-
dicionem presentis parliamenti, peto quod in salva ponetur
custodia usque ad finalem sui judicii execucionem.” Rex
quo[que] ad hoe respondit quod propter tante? persone
excellenciam deliberaret in crastinum ; ac omnes alios in
dicta commissione insertos* pronunciavit fideles, legales,
et eciam prodicione immunes, et specialiter Alexandrum
Nevyll, nuper archiepiscopum Eboracensem. Et tunc
dominus Edmundus Langley, dux Eboracensis, avunculus

concessit. MS. ? tande. MS. § incertos. MS.

ADH DE USK 13

regis, et dominus Wyllelmus Wykham, episcopus Wyn-
toniensis, in dicta commissione inserti?, lacrimantes, proni
in terram ceciderunt, regi de tanto beneficio regraciando.
Item, die Veneris, scilicet in festo Sancti Mathei contin-
gente, de Rotlond, de Kent, de Huntington, de Notyng-
ham, de Somerset, de Sarum, comites, dominus de Spenser
et dominus Wyllelmus Scroppe, in una secta rubiarum
togarum de cerico, rotulatarum et albo cerico, literis aureis
immixtarum, appellacionem per eos regi prius aput Noting-
ham edditam proposuerunt; in qua accusabant Thomam
ducem Gloucestrie, Ricardum comitem Arundellie, Thomam
comitem Warwyci, et Thomam Mortimer, militem, de pre-
missis prodicionibus et eciam de insurrexione armata aput
Haryncay Parke contra regem prodittorie facta. Prestita-
que caucione de prosequendo appellacionem suam, Ricardus
comes Arundellie scistebatur in judicio in rubra toga et
capicio de scarleto. Et statim dux Lancastrie dixit domino
de Nevyll: “ Tollas sibi zonam et capicium”; et factum est
ita. Expositisque eidem comiti articulis, forti animo ne-
gando se proditorem, peciit sue perdonacionis beneficium
alias concessum, protestando quod nunquam a regis? sui
gracia vellet recedere. Dux Lancastrie sibi dixit: “Pro-
ditor, illa perdonacio est revocata.” Comes respondit :
“Vere mentiris! Nunquam fui proditor!” Item dux Lan-
castrie dixit: “Quare tunc impetrasti perdonacionem ?”’
Comes respondit: “Ad obturandum linguas emulorum
meorum, quorum tu es unus; et pro certo, quantum ad
prodiciones, tu magis indiges perdonacione quam ego.”
Rex dixit sibi: ‘‘Respondeas appellacioni tue.” Comes
respondit: “ Bene video quod ille persone accusant me de
prodicione, ostendendo appellaciones. Vere mentiuntur
omnes! Nunquam fui proditor! Ego semper peto bene-
ficium perdonacionis mee, quam mihi infra vj. annos ultimo
elapsos, in plena etate et libera voluntate vestris, ex pro-
prio motu concessistis.” Tunc dixit rex: “Ita concessi, si
? incerti. MS. 2 rege. MS,

A.D, 1397.

A.D. 1897.

f. 158 b.

Comes
Derbeij
contra
comitem
Arundelie,

Sentencia
contra
comitem
Arundelie.

14 CHRONICON

non esset contra me.” Tune dixit dux Lancastrie: “ Tune
non valet concessio.” Comes respondit: “Vere de illa
prodicione! plus nescivi tunc quam tu qui in partibus
transmarinis fueras.’ Tune dixit dominus Johannes
Buschey : “ Illa perdonacio revocata est per regem, dominos,
et nos fideles plebeios.” Comes respondit: “ Ubi illi fideles
plebei? Bene novi te et comitivam tuam ibi, qualiter con-
gregati estis, non ad fidelitatem faciendam, quia plebei
fideles regni non sunt hic. Sed scio quid ipsi multum
dolent me; et bene scio quod tu semper fuisti falsus.” Et
tune Buschei et socii sui clamaverunt: “ Ecce, domine
rex, qualiter iste proditor nititur suscitare sedicionem
inter nos et regni plebeios domi existentes.” Comes re-
spondit : “Vos omnes mentimini! Non sum proditor!”
Tune surrexit comes de Derby et dixit sibi: “ Nonne tu
dixisti mihi apud Huntingtoniam, ubi primo ad insurgen-
dum eramus congregati, quod melius esset ante omnia
capere regem?” Comes respondit: “Tu, comes Derbeij,
tu mentiris in caput tuum! Nunquam de domino nostro
rege cogitavi, nisi quod sibi boni esset et honoris.” Tunc
dixit sibi rexmet: ‘‘ Nonne tu dixisti mihi, tempore parlie-
menti tui, in balneo depost albam aulam, quod dominus
Symon de Bevyrley, miles meus, propter plures causas erat
mortis reus? Et ego respondi tibi quod nullas mortis
causas in eo scivi; et tunc tu et socii tui ipsum proditorie
interfecistis.” Et tunc dux Lancastrie mortis sentenciam
sub hiis verbis tulit in eundem: “ Ricarde, ego senescallus
Anglie te proditorem esse judico, et te trahendum, suspen-
dendum, decollandum, et quatriperciendum, ac terras tuas
taliatas et non taliatas confiscandas sentencialiter et diffini-
tive condempno.”

Tune rex, ob reverenciam sanguinis sui, jussit eum tan-
tum decollari. Et duxerunt eum emuli sui, comes Cancie,
ipsius nepos, et alii terras suas sicientes *, mala mortis peste,
ut inferius liquebit, perempti, ad montem Turris, et ibi

1 perdonacione. MS. ? cisientes. MS.

ADA DE USK 15

ipsum decollarunt. Cum cujus anima utinam me partici-
pem fieri mererer !, quia pro certo ipsum sanctorum colegio
non dubito aggregari. Corpus tamen suum, licet tunc
irreverenter aput Augustinenses! Londonie tumulatum,
modo cum summa reverencia et populi frequenti oblacione
quam gloriose veneratum excistit,

Item, die Sabbati, dominus Thomas Mortimer fuit pre-
conizatus, sub pena proditoris exilii, infra sex menses se
judicio scisturus. Et rex dixit: “Forte comes Marchie
eum capere non poterit; ideo tamdiu ejus certificatorium
expectabo.” Qui quidem dominus Thomas sic exulatus
tempore exilii morabatur in Scocia.

Item, fuit declaratum quod omnia beneficia per damp-
natos et dampnandos in isto parliemento, et alia que-
cumque ab anno regis decimo concessa et alienata, essent
revocata.

Item, die Lune proxime sequenti, lecto certificatorio
comitis Notingham, ad tunc capitanii Caliciorum, in cujus
custodia dux Glowcestrie fuerat, quod idem dux scisti in
judicio non potuit ideo quia in custodia sua mortuus erat
Calicie, ad peticionem dictorum appellancium eadem in
eum, gue et in comitem Arundelie, fulminata extitit sen-
tencia.

Item, Thomas archiepiscopus Cantuariensis, confiscatis
primitus ejus temporalibus, a regno extitit exulatus.

Item, die Martis sequente, Ricullus, justiciarius domini
regis, de Hybernia oriundus, legit certas confessiones in
scriptis redactas super dictis prodicionibus commissis?, as-
serendo eas esse dicti ducis confessiones, per ipsum emissas
ac ejusdem ducis manu scriptas.

Item, comitatus * Cestrie, ad honorem ducatus sublevatus,
per annexum terrarum dicti comitis Arundellie confisca-
tarum fuit augmentatus. Item, comes Sarum peciit sibi
concedi breve scire facias contra comitem Marchie super

1 Agustinentes, MS. 2 emissis. MS.
5 comes. MS.

A.D, 1897.

Mors ducis
Glouces-
trie,

A.D. 1397,

Ducatus
Cestrie.

f. 159.

Dominus
Cantuari-
ensis
exulatur
a regno.

16 CHRONICON

dominio de Dienebyeth de Wallia; et super hoc rex re-
spondit quod deliberaret.

Item, die Mercurii? tunc sequente, fuit ordinatum quod
terre dicti comitis Arundellie, dicto ducatui Cestrie annexe,
ejus libertatibus in omnibus gauderent, excepto quod Wal-
lenses illarum terrarum antiqua jura et consuetudines
continuarent.

Item, fuit ordinatum quod concilium, auxilium, vel
favorem filiis dampnatorum vel dampnandorum in hoc
parliamento prestantes pena prodicionis plecterentur. Et
parliamentum ad diem Veneris proxime sequentem ? extitit
continuatum.

Item, ipso die Veneris, rex declaravit quales ex damp-
natis et dampnandis descendentes ab hereditatibus * damp-
natorum consiliisque et parliementis regis excluderentur,
scilicet masculi et per lineam masculinam ex eis descen-
dentes in infinitum.

Item, rex prefixit dicto archiepiscopo Cantuariensi termi-
num sex septimanarum ad exeundum regnum suum.

Item, fuit ordinatum quod omnes domini, spirituales et
temporales, jurarent se immobiliter observaturos quicquid
in isto parliamento factum, statutum, vel expeditum fuerat
fueritve ; fulminatis eciam censuris per prelatos ex nunc *
pro ex tunc in contravenientes.

Item, comes Warwyci scistebatur in judicio, ablatoque
sibi capicio et lecta appellacione, quasi misera et vetula,
fatebatur omnia in appellacione contenta, plorando et lacri-
mando et ululando per ipsum, tamquam proditorem, esse
perpetrata ; regis gracie se in omnibus submittendo; dolens
quod dictis appellatis umquam extiterat associatus. Et
rex peciit ab eo per quem eis extitit allectus; et ipse
respondit quod per Thomam ducem Gloucestrie et abbatem
tunc Sancti Albani et monachum reclusum Westmonas-
terii; et semper graciam regis peciit. Et tunc, quasi om-

1 Altered to Martis in MS. 2 sequens. MS.
3 heredibus. MS. * tunc. MS.

ADH DE USK 17

nibus pro eo plorantibus et sibi graciam regis petentibus,
rex concessit sibi vitam perpetuis carceribus extra regnum
lugendam, primitus ipsius bonis mobilibus et immobilibus,
ad modum dicti comitis Arundellie, confiscatis, Et tune
rex misit eum ad turrem Londonie, et demum ad castrum
insule de Manna transmittendum, sub custodia domini
Willelmi Scropp dicte insule ad tuendum, dictis carceribus
perpetuo mancipandum.

Item, die Sabbati, rex prefixit comiti Warwyci unum
mensem ad dictum castrum de Manna se translaturo.
Concessit sibi, licet ficte, et uxori sue quingintas marcas
ad terminum vite eorundem ; tamen nullum denarium sibi
solvit, set omnia usque ad ligulas ! eis abstulit.

Item, comiti Sarum fuit concessum breve scire facias
contra comitem Marchie super dominio de Dynby, datis
induciis xl. dierum ad respondendum.

Item, ordinatum fuit quod debitores pontis de Rougestria
ad usum ejusdem pontis exigentur.

Item, rex expressit quod quoad? excessum Scotorum, in
dicto parliamento devulgatum, per se et concilium suum
ordinaret remedium.

Item, comes Derbey, dux Herfordie; comes Rotlandie,
dux Almarlie; comes Kancie, dux Surreie; comes Hunt-
ingtonie, dux Exonie; comes Notyngham, dux Northefolcie;
comes Somerset, marchio Dorset; dominus de Spenser,
comes Gloucestrie ; dominus de Nevylle, comes Westhomer-
lond; dominus Thomas Perey, comes Wygornie ; et dominus
Wyllelmus Scroppe, comes Wyltesire, creati extiterunt; et
continuatum fuit parliementum ad Salopiam in quindenam
Hillarii proxime sequentis perficiendum.

Item, die Dominica, rex fecit magnum convivium licen-
ciando recessum parliamenti, et [ut] supra in die Veneris
de censuris et juramentis ordinatum fuit. Istud tamen
parliamentum, licet dominorum juramentis, prelatorum
censuris in crimina facientes fulminatis, apostolicaque con-

1 legulas. MS. 2 quia ad. MS.
0

A.D. 1897.

Dynby.
Nota.

A.D. 1897.
Papa robo-
ravit par-
liamen-
tum.

A.D. 1898,
f, 159 b.

18 CHRONICON

firmacione, Petro episeopo Aquenci vice pape consimiliter |

censuras vibrante, extitit roboratum, tamen, ad modum
statue Nobocodonosor, in maxima ejus vana gloria ruit
parliamentum cum ejus fautoribus, et merito forte juxta
premissa, ut plenius infra patebit. Exemplum Cosdre; de
Baldesar, de Antiocho et aliis tirannis populum affligentibus.

Et sic rex aput Salopiam parliamentum continuavit in
tanta mundi pompa, quantam nec auris audivit nee in cor
hominis ascendit}. Quanta inutilia et regni destructiva in
tantum populi confluentia ad modum hostilem armati ince-
dendo excercuit, miraretur mundus. In quo, ultra alia
populo suo nociva et annone destructiva, eciam pro victua-
libus nihil solvit. Ubi tunc dominus de Cobham, appel-
latus de prodicione quia unus de dictis xij. regni guberna-
toribus, dixit regi in judicio: “ Constat vobis quod vos
jussistis mihi onus commissionissubire et eandem admittere.”
Rex respondit : “ Constat tibi quod invitus sic jussi.” “Vere,”
dixit idem dominus de Cobham, “non.” Et rex fecit eum
per ducem Lancastrie proditorem adjudicari, sed vitam con-
cessit ei perpetuo lugendam carceribus. Unde dux dixit
sibi: “ Regracieris pro vita tua domino regi.” “ Vere,” dixit
ille dominus, “nequaquam ; quia poscius tardat mihi vitam,
quia credidi me cicius vita eterna gaudere quam jam
gaudebo.”

Ubi eciam et quando rex extorsit a clero decimam
cum dimidia, et a populo quintamdecimam cum dimidia,
et a quolibet sacco lane quinque marcas, et a quolibet
dolio vini quinque solidos, et a qualibet librata ponderis
omnis” mercimonii duos solidos ad terminum vite sue, cum
interna populi malediccione. Demum dictum dominum de
Cobham ad perpetuos carceres insule de Gersey transmisit.

Ad istud parliamentum, ibidem vocatus, venit ille nobilis
tiles, comes Marchie, locumtenens Hibernie, summe probi-
tatis juvenis, qui hujusmodi conciliis et lassiviis regis expers
erat et immunis. Quem populus jocunde et gaudenti

1 1 Cor, ij. 9. 2 onus. MS.

ADA DE USK 19

animo recepit, sibi in eapiciis de rubio et albo sui coloris
partitis ad numerum xx millia in suo adventu obviando,
sperans per eum a tanta regis calamitate liberari. Tamen
ipse sapienter et caute se gerens, quia rex et alii sibi in
parte fautores probitatis sue invidi insidias sibi ponebant,
oceasiones contra eum querendi, ipse tamen, quasi non
curaret de turbacione populi, dissimulavit penes regem,
ipsius facta sibi placere fingendo, cum rei veritate multum
sibi displicuerant. Rex tamen hoe suspicans et in eum
continue malignans propriis manibus, ex quo alii hoe non
audebant, ipsum proposuit interemere. Et oportunitatem
ad sui destruccionem, cum aliis ad hoe conspiratis, rex
semper ymaginavit, propositum suum malignum ita palli-
ando, eo quod dominum Thomam Mortimer, militem strenuis-
simum, ipsius patruum, per eos exulatum, et quem ipsi
summe timebant, aliquamdiu post hujus exilium receptasset
in Hibernia, ac ipsum ante sui recessum suis recreasset
pecuniis. Dictumque comitem ideo inter se secrete damp-
narunt, captantes tempus ad ipsius destruccionem, terras
suas ex hoc inter se dividendas jactando. Et ad illum
finem dominum? Surrey predictum, uxoris sue fratrem
malignissimum, pro ipsius capcione locumtenentem direxe-
runt in Hiberniam. Set, pro dolor!, in festo Sancte Marga-
rete, juxta Kenlasoe in Hibernia, nimia ipsius bellicosa
animositate exercitum proprium incaute precedens, in
suorum hostium manus belli fortuna cecidit peremptus, ad
magnam regni Anglie tristiciam, suorumque emulorum et
inimicorum gaudium nimirum non modicum et leticiam.

Hee ipsius comitis genologia :—Rogerus filius Edmundi,
filii Rogeri, filii Edmundi, filii Rogeri, primi comitis Marchie,
filii Cladus Thui, filie Llewellyn ap Jorwerth Troynden
principis Norpewalie, filii Oweyn, filii Gruffith, filii Conaan,
filii 3ago, filii Ydwall, filii Maurie, filii Ydwall Voyll, filii
Anaraud, filii Rodry Vawr ex Essill filia Kynan, filii Rodry
Mayiwynnog, filii Ydwali 3eorth, filii Cadualadre benedicti

? dominos. MS.
C2

A.D, 1398.

f. 160.

Casus
comitis
Marchie
in bello, et
ejus gene-
logia.

Hic primo
de princi-
pibus.

Hic primo
de regibus.

A.D, 1898,

Hucusque
de Brito-
nibus.

Hic primo
de tiran-
nis,

Hic primo
de Ebreys.

Hic ad
conques-
torem.

Hic ad du-
ces Nor-
mannie,

Edwardi
tercii.
Regis
Francie.

20 CHRONICON

ultimi regis Brytonum, filii Cadwalonis, filii Caduani, filii
3iago, filii Beli, filii Rune, filii Mailgan Goynet, filii Cad-
uallan Lawyr, filii Yvor Hyrth, filii Cuentha Wledik,
filii Ederne, filii Padarne Peys Ruthe, filii Tegyt, filii Jago,
filii Kuneddane, filii Caynan, filii Borgayn, filii Doly, filii
Gortholy, filii Cwyne, filii Gorthewyn, filii Amleweth, filii
Anweyrid, filii Ouweth, filii Donker, filii Brychwane, filii
Ymwane, filii Analathas, filii Affleth, filii Beli Vawr, filii
Mynagan, filii Enayd, filii Gerwyt, filii Creden, filii Dyffnach,
filii Pryden, filii Aedmawr, filii Antony, filii Sirioll, filii
Garowest, filii Ruallon, filii Cunetha ex Ragaw filia Leyr
qui fecit Licestriam, filii Bladudd qui fecit balnea apud
Bathoniam, filii Rune, filii Llann, filii Bruti viridis scuti,
filii Eboracy qui fecit civitatem Eboraci, filii Membrye,
filii Madag, filii Locriny, filii Bruti primi regis Britonum,
filii Silvy, filii Escannyi, filii Enee Scothewyn, filii Enchiges,
filii Capus, filii Asseraci, filii Troysse, filii Elicony, filii
Mercuri, filii Dardani, filii Jovis, filii Saturni, filii Seluis,
filii Oreti, filii Seprii, filii Jevan, filii Jaseph, filii Noee,
filii Lamech, filii Mathusalem, filii Ennoe, filii Jaffeth},
filii Malaleel, filii Caynan, filii Ennoe, filii Seth, filii Ade
prothoplausti.

Jam redeamus ad dictam Cladus Thui, filiam Johanne,
filie Johannis regis, filii Henrici fyz Emperys, filie Henrici
primi, filii Wyllelmi conquestoris, filii [Roberti, filii] ?
Ricardi, filii Ricardi sine timore, filii Wyllelmi Longspe,
filii Rolonis primi conquestoris Normanie.

Ultra dictorum Brytanie, Ytalie, Troge, Anglie, Francie,
et Hispanie nobilium regum nobilissimum exortum, (ut quid
mora ?)ecce quanta comitum Marchie florens regalis prosapia!
Idem Rogerus comes predictus filius fuit Philippe comi-
tisse Marchie, filie Leonelli ducis Clarencie, secundogeniti
Edwardi tereii, regis Anglie et Francie gloriosi, filii Isabelle,
filie Philippi regis Francie ejusque heredis unice ; et hoc in
utraque linea directa. Item, ex alio latere filius fuit dicte

1 i.e. Jared. 2 Omitted in MS.

ADA DE USK 21

Philippe ex Elizabetha! Clarencie ducissa, filia Wyllelmy
Borch, comitis Ultonie, [filii Johannis de Borch]? ex Eleza-
betha, filia Johanne de Acris, filie Edwardi primi, regis
Anglie et conquestoris Walie, ex Alianora filia regis His-
panie, prima ejus uxore. Item, ex alio latere filius fuit
ejusdem Philippe comitisse, filie ducisse Clarencie predicte,
filie dicti comitis Ultonie ex Matilda °, filia Henrici* comitis
Lancastrie, filii Edmundi’‘, filii tercii Henrici regis Anglie ex
Alianora’®, filia comitis Provincie, Westmonasterii inter reges
honorifice tumulata. Ultra, nota de Edmundo jam comite
Marchie, dicti Rogeri filio inpubere et in custodia regis
excistente, ex Alianora regis Ricardi secundi nepte, filia
comitis Cancie, filii Johanne’ comitisse Cancie, filie Ed-
mundi§, filii dicti Edwardi primi ex Margareta, filia regis
Francie, ejus secunda uxore, ante summum altare in ecclesia
fratrum minorum Londonie tumulata.

Jam redeamus ad dictam imperatricem, [filiam Matildis]?
filie Margarete regine Scocie, filie Edwardi exulis, filii
Edmundi Irynsid, filii Athelredi, filii Edgarii, filii Edmundi,
filii Edwardi, filii Aluredi, filii Atheluulphy, filii Athelbry3t,
filii Aelmundi, qui fuit unus de v. regulis Anglie ; qui qui-
dem Athelbry3t fugit a facie Bry3thry3t, sibi invidentis, in
Franciam, tempore Kareli Mayny; dicto vero Bry3thry3t
mortuo, idem Athelbry3t reversus in Angliam, ceteris
regulis Anglie per eum viriliter divictis, Angliam ad unam
monarcham redegit, in ea pacifice regnando, et jacet Wyn-
tonie. Jam redeamus ad dictum Radulphnm, maritum

1 Philippa. MS. 2 Omitted in MS.

5 N. MS. * Thome. MS,

5 The following note is written in the margin :—

“ Nota quod iste historiographus dicit libro septimo quod Edwardus
Wallie conquestor fuit primogenitus Henrici 34i, quanquam alii dix-
erint contrarium, scilicet quod Edmundus, de quo fit [mencio] supra.
Quod non credo. Hec habentur libro 7, capitulo 35.”

The reference is to the “ Polychronicon,” which precedes the present
chronicle in the MS. 6° N. MS.

7 Philippe. MS. 8 filii Johannis added in MS.

A.D. 1398.
Regis
Hispanie.
Edwardi
primi.

f. 160 b.

Regis
Francie.

Hic primo
de regibus
Saxonum.

Hic origo

A.D. 1398,

de Mortu-
mer.
Fondator
abbacie de
Wygmore.

Versus.

Versus.

22 CHRONICON

dicte Wladus Thui, filium Rogeri?, filii Hugonis funda-
toris abbathie de Wygmore, filii Radulphi Mortumer qui
primo venit cum Wyllielmo conquestore in Angliam. Iste
Radulphus, dicto filio suo Hugone in dominio de Wygmore
relicto, in Normaniam reversus ibi mortuus est, ut in
chronicis? dicte abbathie habetur.

Jam de Edmundo, patre dicti Rogeri, aliquid proferre
non omitto. Iste Edmundus, qui infra byennium, suarum
virtutum prosapia et industria pariter militari [et] strenui-
tate, quibus diebus suis ceteris mortalibus prepollebat,
totam Hyberniam, in ipsius locumtenencie ibidem adventu
rebellantem, ad unitatem et pacem Anglieque subjeccionem
mirifice reduxit, presencium compilatorem ad utriusque
juris studium Oxonie exhibuit honeste sustentatum. Domi °,
aput Cork in Hibernia, in festo Sancti Johannis Evange-
liste, pro dolor!, casu quodam quo omnia tendunt in
occasum, longe ante michi optatum terminum, tanta sui
nobilitate mundum reliquit* orbatum. Et jacent ejus ossa
in abbathia de Wygmore, una cum dicta Philippa uxore
sua, ante summum altare ejusdem abbathie tumulata. De
quibus ecce versus :—

“Vir constans, gratus, sapiens, bene nuper amatus,

Nunc nece prostratus, sub marmore pudret humatus.
His jacet Edmundus, moriens Cork, corpore mundus ;
Sisque pius, Christe, sibi quem lapis opprimit iste!”

Item, de dicta Philippa :—

“ Nobilis hic tumilata jacet comitissa Philippa.
Actibus hee nituit; larga, benigna fuit.

Regum sanguis erat, morum probitate vigebat,
Conpaciens inopi ; vivat in arce celi!”

Per istam Philippam, Leonelli secundogeniti Anglie
1 filium Hugonis filii Rogeri. MS.

2 ut habetur in coronisis. MS.
5 domum. MS. ‘ reliquid. MS.

ADA DE USK 23

[filiam], ut? premittitur, comitatus Marchie, una cum
regali progenie ad summos honoris apices attingere virsi-
militer valenti, per dominia de Clare, Walsingham, Sodbiry,
Waddon, Cramborn, et Berdfeld, in Anglia; de Usk, Kaer-
lion, et Tryllek, in Walia; de comitatu Ultonie, et dominio
de Connach, in Hibernia, cum eorum nonnullis et quam
plurimis magnorum dominiorum pertinenciis, gaudet quam
honorifice augmentatus.

Jam ad parliamentum predictum Salopie redeamus.
Cujus tempore dux Northfolcie, postea mortuus in exilio
aput Veneciam, duci Lancastrie mortis insidias illuc
venienti posuit; quod magnos doloris turbines causavit.
Ipse tamen de hoc precautus aliunde hujusmodi insidias
evasit.

Rex continue usque ad ejus ruinam, inter cetera grava-
mina regno suo per ipsum accumulata, habuit secum in
familia sua cccc’* excessivos viros de comitatu Cestrie,
utique malignissimos, et subditos ubique impune affligentes,
pulsantes, et depredantes. Qui, ubicumque rex devertebat,
secum armati diei et noctis vigilias circa eum ad modum
guerrancium custodiebant ; adulteriaque, homicidia, et alia
infinita mala ubique committendo. Quos rex in tantum
fovebat ita ut nullum contra eos querelantem audire digna-

A.D, 1898,

Parlia-
mentum
Salopie.

retur, ymmo illum tamquam exosum pocius dedignaretur. —

Quod ? fuit causa ipsi ruine maxima.

In dicto parliamento, dux Herfordie, filius dicti ducis
Lancastrie, de prodicione dictum ducem Norfolkie appellavit.
Unde rex assignavit eis crastinum Exaltacionis Sancte
Crucis tune proxime sequens ad duellandum in ea parte.
Dux Herfordie interim sub fidejussoria caucione quo vole-
bat se divertit. Duce tamen Northfolchie aput Wyndesor
carcerali mancipato custodie, ejusdem officia aliis coappella-
toribus suis fuerunt collata, officium scilicet marescallie
Anglie duci Surreye, et officium capitanie Callicie duci
Exonie ; propter quas concessiones inter ipsum et eos, justo

1 et. MS. 2 que. MS.

Appellacio
ducis Her-
ffordie.

f. 161.

A.D. 1898,

Ducis
North-
folchie
exilium.
Ducis
Herfordie
bannicio.

A.D. 1899.

A.D. 1898.

A.D. 1899,

24 CHRONICON

Dei judicio, misit Deus magnum scismatis chaos, juxta
illud prophecie, unde versus:— __

“ Judice celorum rumpetur turba malorum.” ?

Quo duelli die ambo in magno apparatu ad ipsum locum ?
fossa aquatica munitum venerunt. Set dux Herefordie mul-
tum gloriosius cum septem equorum diversitatis apparatu
insignitus comparuit. Et, quia rex a sortilegio habuerat
quod dux Northfolchie tune prevaleret, ducis Herfordie
destruccionem affectando multum gaudebat. Set in con-
gressu eorundem sibi videbatur quod dux Herffordie
prevaleret. Rex duellum mandavit dissolvi, dicto duci
Northfolchie perpetuum exilium inducendo, affectans
tamen eundem, captata oportunitate, reconsiliare. Ducem
vero Herfordie pro decem annis bannivit a regno. Primus
Veniciis in exilio expiravit; secundus infra annum ad
regnum gloriose rediit, ac, banniente deposito, in eodem
potenter regnavit.

Isto anno, in crastino Sancti Blassii, moritur dictus dux
Lancastrie, et in ecclesia Sancti Pauli Londonie prope sum-
mum altare multum honoratus tumulatur.

In quo parliemento, totalem ipsius regni potestatem rex
sibi et sex aliis, per ipsum designandis, ad vite sue termi-
num, ubi et quando sibi placeret, optinuit comitti. Per
quam commissionem postea dictum ducem Herfordie, omni-
bus ejus bonis confiscatis, perpetuo exilio condempnavit.
Pluriumque memoriam post mortem dampnavit. Et demum
ad partes Hybernie debellandas in mala sibi hora se direxit,
quia, ut inferius apparebit, inutilis fuit sibi ad sua regressus.

Adventus sui exilii dicti Herffordie, et per mortem sui
patris jam Lancastrie, ducis, sic duplici ducatu functi, juxta
illud prophecie Brydlintoun, ubi versus :—

“Bis dux vix veniet cum trecentis sociatis.
Phi. falsus fugiet, non succurret nece stratis.”

* Bridlington, dist. 11. cap. vj. ? ipsius loci. MS.
8 Dist. 11. cap. ij.

tara Senin atime renneten ete ONE! Oo 17)

26 a a ee le

ADH DE USK 25

Iste dux Henricus, secundum propheciam Merlini juxta
propheciam, pullus aquile, quia filius Johannis. Set secun-
dum Bredlintoun merito canis, propter liberatam collari-
orum leporariis conveniencium ; et quia diebus canicularibus
venit, et quia infidos cervos, liberatam scilicet regis Ricardi
in cervis excistentem, penitus regno affugavit.

Iste dux Henricus ab exilio suo, una cum Thoma, Can-
tuariensi archiepiscopo, et Thoma, comite Arundelie, filio,
mortis sui metu a custodia ducis Exonie, fratris regis
Ricardi, ad ipsum in Francia fugiente, vicesimo octavo die
Junii, in loco applicari insolito, vix cum cce., ut premittitur,
terre in partibus borialibus applicuit. Cui primo in sui
succursum ipsius foreste de Knarisborow archiforestarius,
Robertus Watourtoun, advenit cum ducentis forestariis,
ac demum de Westhomerlond et Northomerlond comites,
domini de Wylby et de Graystok. Ut quid mora? Infra
paucos dies centum mille bellicosis gaudenter extitit sti-
patus. Brystoliam cum excercitu antepenultimo die Julii
applicavit, et ibidem dominum Wyllelmum Scroppe, regis
thesaurarium, dominos Johannem Buschei et Henricum
Grene, milites, regis pessimos conciliarios et ejus malicie
principales fautores, decapitavit. Ubi presencium com-
pilator cum dicto domino Cantuariensi reverso interfuit ;
eundemque ducem cum dominio de Usk, originis sui loco,
quem depredandum proposuerat propter recistenciam ejus-
dem loci domine, regis neptis, ibidem ordinatam, graciose
pacificavit, et dominum Edwardum Charlton, ejusdem
domine tune maritum, predicto duci retineri optinuit; ac
totam patriam Usce, pro dicta recistencia Monstarri congre-
[ga |tam, cum maximo eorum gaudio ad propria fecit remeare.

Demum idem dux cum exercitu suo aput Herffordiam,
secundo die Augustii, in palacio episcopi se hospitavit ; et
in crastino se versus Cestream movit, et in prioratu de
Lempster pernoctavit. Et postea nocte proxima aput
Lodelaw in castro regis, vino ibidem inhorriato non par-
cens, pernoctavit. Ubi presencium compilator ab eo et

A.D. 1899,

f, 161 b.

A.D. 1899.

Venenum.

26 CHRONICON

a domino Cantuariensi fratrem Thomam Prestburi, magis-
trum in theologia, ipsius contemporarium Oxonie, mona-
chum de Salopia, tune carceribus per regem Ricardum
detentum, eo quod contra excessus suos quedam merito
predicasset, ab hujusmodi carceribus liberari, et in abba-
tem monasterii sui erigi, optinuit. Demum per Salopiam
transitus ibi per duos dies mansit; ubi fecit proclamari
quod excercitus suus se ad Cestriam dirigeret, tamen
populo et patrie parceret, eo quod per internuncios se
sibi submiserant. Qua de causa plures, patriam illam
in predam sibi captantes, ad propria recesserunt. Set
modicum patrie valuit proclamacio, ut infra apparebit.
Cause quare dux decrevit illam patriam invadendam: quia
assistens regi, ut premittitur, regnum per biennium con-
tinuum homicidiis, adulteriis, furtis, rapinis, et aliis intollera-
bilibus injuriis infestare non cessavit; et quia contra
dictum ducem et ejus adventum surrexerant, ipsum de-
struere minantes. Alia causa, propter privilegium exemp-
cionis patrie, in qua ipsimet quantumcumque aliunde
facinoroci, sive alii sic debitis et criminibus irretiti, ad
illam patriam tamquam nidum facinorum pro tutamine
receptari solebant; unde totum regnum in eos vindicari
acclamavit.

Nono die Augustii dux cum excercitu in patriam Cestrie
intravit, et ibidem in parochia de Codintoun et in aliis
parochiis circumvisinis castra metanda et tentoria figenda,
pratisque et segetibus non parcendo, patriamque undique
depredando, vigiliasque maximas nocturnas contra insidias
Cestrencium habendo, pernoctavit. Ubi presencium com-
pilator in tentorio domini de Powys noctem illam perduxit
illugubrem. Ubi plures in locis vicinis poculis veneno
per Cestrences infectis perierunt toxicati. Ubi eciam ex
diversis aquaticis cisternis, lanceis scrutatis, et ex aliis
locis abditis vasa et alia bona quam plura ibidem inventa
in predam vertebantur, inventoribus interessente presen-
cium compilatore.

Se eh a

ADH DE USK 27

In erastino, vigilia scilicet Sancti Laurencii, ad ecclesiam
de Codintoun predicta, volens ibi celebrare, mane accessi ;
et nihil ibi, nisi omnibus asportatis hostiisque et cistis
fractis, reperii.

Eodem die, dux Lancastrie cum suo excersitu Cestriam
accessit. Prius tamen in quodam magno campo pulcherimo,
segete pleno, bene per tria miliaria a villa, in parte orien-
tali ejusdem, sui excercitus monstracionem, acies dirigendo
ad numerum centum millia pugnatorum, posuit ; et quorum
clepeis veraciter notari poterat resplendere montes. Lt sic
castrum Cestrie ingressus, ibi et undique sibi cum suis per
duodecim dies, vino regis Ricardi sufficienter reperto et
per eum ducem usitato, agros depopulando, domos depre-
dando, et breviter omnia sibi ad usum victumque et aliunde
utilia seu necessaria ocupando ut propria, remansit.

Tercio die adventus sui ibidem magni malefactoris repu-
tati, Perkyn de Lye, caput amputari et in palo ultra portam
orientalem affigi fecit. Iste Perkyn, [qui] in forestia regia
de la Mare principalis custos et ejus officii majestate plures
opressiones et extorciones pagensibus fecerat, monacalia in-
dutus, quia sub talibus vestium transfuguracionibus plura
dampnosa, ut dicebatur, perpetraverat, merito in eadem
captus transmigrare extitit. Unum bene scio, quod de ejus
morte neminem ad tunc dolere perpendi.

Rex Ricardus in Hibernia de hujusmodi ducis adventu
audiens, maxima hominum et diviciarum gloria stipatus, in
magno excercitu partes Wallie aput Penbroc peciit, in festo
Sancte Marie Magdalene terre applicando, dominum de
Spenser ad sussitandum suos de Glanmorgane, licet sibi
nequaquam parentes, in sui destinans succursum. Quo
audito undeque stupefactus, quorum concilio tamen reputo
non sibi fidelium, ad castrum de Conwey in Norpewallia,
Northewallencium et Cestrensium succursu relevari sperans,
ad Carmerthyn circa mediam noctem cum paucissimis ve-
corditer affugit. Unde duces, comites, barones, et omnes
in magno excercitu secum excistentes, juxta illud : “ Percusso

A.D, 1899.

De [de]eca-
pitacione
Perkyn de
Lye.

A.D. 1899.

f. 162.

Capcio
regis aput
Flynt.

Nota for-
tunam et
ejus
rotam.

28 CHRONICON

pastore,” etc.', segregatim et per devia versus Angliam
transeuntes a pagencibus totaliter spoliati fuerunt. Quo-
rum plures magnates sic ad dictum ducem vidi venire
spoliatos ; et quorum plures, non bene sibi credulos, custo-
diis tradidit diversis.

Dominus meus Cantuariensis archiepiscopus et comes
Northomerye, ex parte ducis, ad regem, in castro de
Counuey existentem, tracturi transierunt, in wygilia As-
sumpcionis Beate Virginis; et rex, sub condicione status
sui salvandi, se aput castrum de Flente duci dicto se pro-
misit redditurum. Et sic, traditis eis duabus coronis suis
valoris CM. marcarum cum aliis thesauris infinitis, se versus
castrum de Flent statim transtulit prodiens. Ubi dominus
dux, cum xx. millibus electis ad eum veniens, aliis pro tuta-
mine sui suorumque” hospiciorum patrieque castri et ville
Cestrie a retro dimissis, ipsum regem in eodem castro de
Flente*, quia sibi exire nolentem, adiit, et secum capti-
vatum ad castrum Cestrie perduxit, ipsum ibidem secure
custodie tradendo. Sicque diversos dominos secum captos,
usque ad parliamentum in crastino Sancti Michaelis ex-
tunc incipiendum, tradidit custodiendos.

Dum dux tune Cestrie erat, iij. de xxiiij. senioribus
Londonie, ex parte ejusdem civitatis, cum aliis 1. civibus
ejusdem, ad ducem veniebant, sub sigillo communi ipsius
civitatem sibi recomendando et regi Ricardo diffidenciam
mittendo ; referentes eciam qualiter Londonienses ad abba-
thiam de Westmonasterio regem Ricardum querentes,
audito quod illuc clam fugerat, armati conflu[x]erant ;
quo non invento, dominos Rogerum Walden, Nycholaum
Slak, et Radulphum Selbi, regis speciales conciliarios,
ibidem repertos, usque ad parliamentum ordinarunt custo-

1 Zach, xiij. 7. 2 suique suorum. MS.
8 The following passage is added by another hand in the margin,
for insertion at this place :—‘‘Cum armatis ex una, et cum sagittariis

ex altera, partibus circumvallando; illam propheciam implendo:
‘Rex albus et nobilis ad modum scuti,’ etc.”

St ene

ADZ DE USK 29

diendos, Et sic dux, rege et regno per eum infra |, dies
gloriose conquesto, Londoniam transiit ; in cujus Turri
regem captivatum sub custodibus sufficientibus posuit.

Interim, dux misit ad Hiberniam pro filio suo seniori,
Henrico, et Unfredo, filio ducis Glowcestrie, in castro de
Tryme per regem Ricardum inclusis. Quibus sibi cum
magno thesauro ejusdem regis transmissis, dictus Unfredus,
veneno per dominum de Spenser, ut dicebatur, in Hibernia
toxcicatus, aput Anglesei insulam in Wallia, ad magnum
regni luctum, sic veniendo moriebatur; tamen predictus
ducis Lancastrie filius ad patrem venit incolumis, domino
Wyllelmo Bagot, infimi generis milite per regem ad alta
promoto, secum invinculato ducto.

Dicti regis Ricardi condicio talis fuit, nobiles deprimere
ac ignobiles exaltare, ut de ipso domino Wyllelmo et de
aliis infimis in magnates, et de ydeotis in pontifices quam
pluribus per eum exaltatis, postea ruina, propter eorum
inordinatum saltum, depressis’. Unde, de eodem rege
Ricardo, ut de Archallo quondam Britonum rege, merito
notari poterit; de quo sic: Archallus nobiles depressit,
ignobiles exaltavit, cuique sua diviti auferebat, et infinitos
thesauros coligebat; unde heroes? regni tantas injurias
diucius sustinere non valentes, in ipsum insurgentes, eum
deposuerunt, ac fratrem suum in regem erexerunt. Sic per
omnia de isto Ricardo contingebat ; [de] cujus produccione
natalium, quasi non ex patre regalis prosapie, set ex matre
lubrice vite dedita, multum sinistri predicabatur in vulgo,
ut de multis auditis taceam.

Item, per certos* doctores, episcopos, et alios, quorum
presencium notator unus extiterat, deponendi regem
Ricardum et Henricum, Lancastrie ducem, subrogandi in
regem materia, et qualiter et ex quibus causis, juridice com-
mittebatur disputanda. Per quos determinatum fuit quod
perjuria, sacrilegia, sodomidica, subditorum exinnanicio,
populi in servitutem reduccio, vecordia, et ad regendum

1 depressi. MS. 2 erohes. MS. 5 sertos. MS.

A.D. 1899,

Mors Un-
fridi ducis
Glowces-
trie filii.

Nobiles
depressit,

Deponitur
rex,

Cause de-
ponendi
regem.

A.D. 1399.

f. 162 b.

30 CHRONICON

imbecilitas!, quibus rex Ricardus notorie fuit infectus, per

capitulum, “Ad apostolice,” (extractus, ‘De re judicata,”

in Sexto,) cum ibi notatis?, deponendi Ricardum cause
fuerant sufficientes; et, licet cedere paratus fuerat, tamen
ob causas premissas ipsum fore deponendum cleri et populi
autoritate, ob quam causam tune vocabantur, pro majori
securritate fuit determinatum.

Sancti Mathei festo, ad byennium deeapitacionis comitis
Arundelle, in dicta Turri, ubi rex Ricardus in custodia
fuerat, ipsius cene presencium notator interfuit, ipsius mo-
dum et gesturam explorando, per dominum Wyllelmum

Beuchamp ad hoc specialiter inductus. Ubi et quando—

idem rex in cena dolenter retulit confabulando sic dicens :
“QO Deus! hee est mirabilis terra et inconstans, quia tot
reges, tot presules, totque magnates exulavit, interfecit,
destruxit, et depredavit, semper discencionibus et discordiis
mutuisque invidiis continue infecta et laborans.” Et reci-
tavit historias et nomina vexatorum a primeva regni in-
habitacione. Videns animi sui turbacionem, et qualiter
nullum sibi specialem aut famulari solitum, sed alios
extranios sibi totaliter insidiantes, ipsius obsequio depu-
tatos, de antiqua et solita ejus gloria et de mundi fallaci
fortuna intra me cogitando, multum animo meo recessi
turbatus.

Quodam die, in concilio per dictos doctores habito, per
quosdam fuit tactum quod, jure sanguinis ex persona
Edmundi comitis Lancastrie*, asserentes ipsum Edmundum
regis Henrici tercii primogenitum esse, sed ipsius geniture
ordine, propter ipsius fatuitatem, excluso, Edwardo suo
fratre, se juniore, in hujus locum translato, sibi regni suc-
cessionem directa linea debere compediri*. Quantum ad
istud, ecce quid historie P. de Grw, per totam Angliam,
quod Edwardus primogenitus regis Henrici erat, et quod

1 invicilitas. MS.
2 Sext. Decret. 11. tit. xiv. § 1).
8 Lyncollnie. MS. * compedere. MS.

ee i ee aS oping cant

ADA DE USK 31

post ipsum, ante Edmundum, Margareta, postea regina
Scocie, regi predicto nata fuerat. In cronicis fratrum pre-
dicatorum Londonensium ita legi: “ Natus est Edwardus,
primogenitus regis Henrici, aput Westmonasterium ; quem
Oto legatus baptizavit”: libro vij®., capitulo xxv°., anno
Domini millesimo ducentesimo tricesimo nono. Item,
“Rex Henricus Edwardo primogenito suo dedit Vasconiam,
Hiberniam, Waliam, Cestriam, et Surreiam”: libro vij.,
cap. xxxvij°., anno Domini millesimo ce°liij. Item, “ Idi-
bus Maii, in bello de Lewys, barones ceperunt regem Hen-
ricum et primogenitum suum Edwardum ”: libro vij., cap.
xxxvij, anno Domini m°cc°lxiiij®. Item, “ Edwardus,
primogenitus regis Henrici, cum uxore sua, adiit terram sanc-
tam”: libro vij®°, cap. xxxvij°®., anno Domini m°cc°lxxj°.
Pollicronica. Item, “ Rex Henricus tenuit festum Natale
Wyntonie. Eodem anno Domini m°cc°xxxix®., regi H[en-
rico] et A[lianore] regine natus filius primogenitus Ed-
wardus, xv°. kalendas Julii.” Item, “ Rex vocavit reginam
et primogenitum suum, Edwardum, in Franciam, pro trac-
tatu matrimonii inter ipsum et filiam regis Hi[s]panie,
anno Domini m°ce°liiij®. et regis Henrici xxxviij®.” Item,
“Eodem anno missus est Edwardus primogenitus in magno
apparatu in Hispaniam ad Alfonsum, regem Hispanie, pro
dicto matrimonio.” Tevet. Item, “ Alienora regina pepe-
rit filium suum, Edwardum, apud Westmonasterium, anno
Domini m°ce°xxxix®, Alienora regina peperit filiam suam
Margaretam, anno Domini m°cc°xl]j°.” “Alienora regina
peperit filium suum Edmundum, anno Domini m°ecc°xlv°.”
Cronica Glowcestrie.

In festo Sancti Michaelis, missi erant regi in Turri, pro
parte cleri, archiepiscopus Eboracensis et episcopus Her-
fordensis; pro parte dominorum temporalium superiorum,
de Northomerland et de Westhomerlland comites; pro in-
ferioribus prelatis, abbas Westmonasterii et prior Can-
tuarie; pro baronibus, de Berkeley et de Burnel domini;
pro plebeis cleri, magister Thomas Stow et Johannes

A.D, 1899,

Seisitura
Edwardil.

An Ed-
wardus vel
Edmundus
senior.

A.D. 1899.

Nota rote
fallacis
fortunam.

f. 163.

Sentencia
deposici-
onis.

32 CHRONICON

Borbach ; pro communitate regni, Thomas Grey et Thomas
Erpingham, milites, ad recipiendum cessionem regis Ri-
cardi. Quo facto, et in crastino iidem domini, ex parte
tocius parliamenti clerique et regni populi, sibi legiancie,
fidelitatis, subjeccionis, attendencie, et cujuscumque obedi-
encie juramentum et fidelitatem totaliter reddiderunt, ip-
sum diffidendo, nec pro rege set pro privato domino
Ricardo de Bordux, simplici milite, de cetero eundem
habituri; ipsius anulo cum eis, in signum deposicionis et
privacionis, adempto et cum eis ad ducem Lancastrie de-
lato, et sibi in pleno parliamento, eodem die incepto, tradito.
Eodem die, Ebrocensis archiepiscopus, facta per eum prius
collacione sub hoc themate: “Posui verba mea in os
tuum,” ? factus per regem Ricardum vocis sue organum, in
prima persona, ac si ipsemet rex loqueretur, ipsius status
regii resignacionem, et quorumcumque sibi legiorum seu
subditorum? ab omni subjeccione, fidelitate, et homagio
liberacionem, palam et publice, in scriptis redactas, in pleno
legit parliamento. Quam resignacionem, requisito primi-
tus omnium et singulorum de parliamento ad hoc concensu,
palam et expresse admiserunt. Quo facto, dominus meus
Cantuariensis archiepiscopus, sub isto themate: “ Vir do-
minabitur eis,” * collacionem fecit, multum ducem Lancas-
trie ipsiusque vires, sensus, et virtutes summe commen-
dando, ipsum ad regnandum meritoque extollendo ; ac inter
cetera recitata per eundem de demeritis regis Ricardi, et
presertim qualiter patruum suum, ducem Gloweestrie,
dolose et sine audiencia seu responsione injustissime suffo-
caverat in carceribus; et qualiter totam legem regni, per
eum juratam, subvertere laborabat. Et sic (ut quid mora ?),
licet seipsum deposuerat ex habundanti, ipsius deposicionis
sentencia in scriptis redacta, consensu et auctoritate tocius
parliamenti, per magistrum Johannem Trevar de Powysia,

¥ Ie. 1j.. 16. 2 quoscumque sibi legios et subditos. MS.
8 1 Reg. ix. 17. “Ecce vir quem dixeram tibi; iste dominabitur
populo meo.”

eS pale Sa

mE,

}
?

ADZ DE USK 33

Assavensem episcopum, palam, publice et solempniter lecta
fuit ibidem. Et sic, vacante regno, consensu tocius parlia-
menti, dictus dux Lancastrie, in regem erectus, per archi-
episcopos predictos in sede regali ad statim intronizari
optinuit; et sic in trono regali sedens quandam protes-
tacionem in scriptis redactam ad statim ibidem palam et
publice legit, in se continentem quod, regnum Anglie videns
vacare, per descensum, jure successorio ex persona Henrici
regis tercii sibi debito, hujusmodi successionem, quia sibi
eidem debitam, peciit pariter et admisit ; et quod, vigore
hujusmodi suecessionis vel ipsius conquestus, nullatenus
regni statum vel alicujus ejusdem in libertatibus, fran-
gesiis, hereditatibus, vel quovis alio jure vel consuetudine
modo in aliquo mutare’ permitteret. Et diem corona-
cionis sue, Sancti scilicet Edwardi proxime futurum; ac,
quia per deposicionem Ricardi olim regis parliamentum,
ejus nomine congregatum, fuit extinctum, ideo, ipsius novi
regis nomine, novum parliamentum, in dicte coronacionis
crastino, de consensu omnium, incipiendum, duxit statuenda.
Fecit eciam ad tune publice proclamari die, si quis aliqua
servicia seu officia in ipsius coronacione, jure hereditario
seu consuetudinario, sibi duxit vendicanda, coram senescallo
suo Anglie suas in scriptis, quo jure et quare, peticiones
proponeret, die Sabbati proxime sequenti, apud West-
monasterium, justiciam in omnibus habiturus.

In vigilia coronacionis, rex Henricus, presente domino
Ricardo olim rege, apud Turrim Londonie xlij. creavit
milites ; inter quos quatuor filii sui, necnon de Arundella
de Stafford comites, ae [de] Warw[ilco comitis filius et
heres 2 ; cum quibus et aliis regni proceribus glorioso appa-
ratu ad Westmonasterium transiit. Veniente coronacionis
die, omnes heroes regni, in rubio, scarleto, et herminio or-
nanter induti, ad coronacionem hujusmodi magno gaudio
venerunt, domino meo Cantuariensi servicium et officium
coronacionis expediente. Coram rege quatuor ferebantur

’ consuetudinis ... mutareve. MS. ? filium et heredem. MS.

D

A.D, 1899.

Successio
novi regis.

Protes-
tacio novi
regis.

Solvitur
parlia-
mentum
per deposi-
cionem
regis,

Quare
habet rex
quatuor
gladios.

A.D; 1899.

f. 163 b.
Insignium
regalium
portitores,

In miseri-
cordia [et]
veritate,
Officiarii.

Pugil regis
in corona-
cione,

34 CHRONICON

gladii: unum vaginatum, in signum militaris honoris aug-
menti; duos in rubiis volutos ac per ligamina aurea cir-
cumcinctos? in signum duplicis misericordie; quartum
nudum sine mucrone, in signum execucionis justicie sine
rancore faciende. Primum gladium de Northomerland,
duos vaginatos de Somerset et de Warwico comites, quar-
tum justicie regis primogenitus, princeps Wallie, scep-
trum ? dominus de Latemer, virgam comes Westhomerland,
tam in coronacione portabant, quam in prandio circa eum
continue stantes tenebant. Regem, ante recepcionem co-
rone, domino Cantuariensi jurare audivi quod populum
suum in misericordia et veritate omnino regere curaret.
Officiarii fuerunt isti in festo coronacionis: de Arundell
pincerna, de Oxonia aque lavantis ministrator, comites ;
dominus Grey de Ruthyn mapparum dispositor.

Dum rex erat in medio prandio, dominus Thomas
Dymmoc, miles, in dextrario totaliter armatus, cum gladio
vaginato de nigro manubrium aureum habente, aliis duobus
gladium nudum et lanceam ante eum defferentibus in dex-
trariis eciam sedentibus, aulam intravit; et per unum
herowd in quatuor aule partibus proclamare fecit quod, si
quis dicere vellet quod suus dominus ligius presens et rex
Anglie non erat de jure rex Anglie coronatus, quod ipse
erat corpore suo paratus ad probandum contrarium ad
statim, seu quando et ubi regi placeret. Tunc rex dixit:
“Si necesse fuerit, domine Thoma, in propria persona te de
hoe relevabo.”

Hujusmodi servicium habuit idem dominus Thomas
racione manerii de Serevilby, in comitatu Lincolnie, et sic
sentencialiter et diffinitive obtinuit, nomine matris sue
adhue viventis, dicti manerii domine, contra dominum
Balduynum Frevyl, nomine castri sui de Tamworth hoe
idem tune vendicantem. De concilio dicti domini Thome
tune fui, et hance peticionem loco libelli sibi composui:
“Graciosissime domine senescalle Anglie, suplicat humi-

1 circum sinctos, MS. 2 septrum. MS.

ADA DE USK * 85

liter Margareta Dymmoc, domina manerii de Screvilby,
quatenus placeat vestre gloriose dominacioni concedere
diete suplicanti quod ipsa poterit facere ad coronacionem
potentissimi domini nostri regis servicium dicto manerio
pertinens, per Thomam Dymmoe, suum primogenitum et
heredem, tanquam dicte Margarete procuratorem in hac
parte, in forma que sequitur: Petit Thomas Dymmoc,
primogenitus et heres Margarete Dymmoc, domine manerii
de Screvilbi, coram vobis, graciosissime domine senescalle
Anglie, quatenus paciamini ipsum habere servicium ma-
nerio de Serevilbo, in coronacione cujusque regis Anglie,
pertinens et debitum, quod servicium dominus Johannes
Dymmoe, pater ejusdem et dicte Margarete maritus, et in
jure ejusdem Margarete, fecerat in coronacione Ricardi, regis
Anglie ultimi; et in cujus servicii possessione ejusdem
Margarete antecessores, dicti manerii domini, a tempore con-
questus hucusque extiterunt: scilicet, quod rex faciat sibi
deliberare unum de melioribus dextrariis es unam de me-
lioribus sellis domini nostri regis, cum armis, ornamentis,
eorumque pertinenciis pro dicto dextrario ipsiusque equite
perfectissimis, ac si ipsemet rex ad letale bellum ineundo
perarmari deberet, ad effectum quod idem Thomas, in eodem
dextrario sic armatus sedens, faciat quater in aula, tempore
prandii, facere publice proclamari quod, si quis vellet dicere
quod Henricus, presens rex Anglie et suus ligius dominus,
non est de jure rex et de jure debeat in regem Anglie
coronari, ipse idem Thomas paratus est ad probandum cor-
pore suo, ubi, quando, et qualiter rex voluerit, quod ipse
mentitur. Petit eciam idem Thomas feoda et remunera-
ciones huic servicio debita et solvi consueta, eo peracto
cum effectu, sibi tradi et liberari.” Translatio ex Gallico in
Latinum hic non patitur modum endictandi. Ideo lector
parcere dignetur.

Isto festo ad annum preterito, dominus Ricardus nuper
rex istum eundem hodie coronatum regnum exire compulit.
Item, parliamentum suum sub omnibus censuris per Petrumi

D2

A.D, 1399.

A.D. 1399,

f. 164.

Consilium
juvenum.

Quinque
sunt in-
signia
princi-
patus.

36 CHRONICON

de Bosco, pape legatum, ipsiusque auctoritate confirmari
apud Westmonasterium fecit. Item, comitissam Warwic-
ensem pro marito suo, ut premittitur, damnato supplicantem
minabatur ultimo supplicio destruere, et hoc juravit, nisi ob
reverenciam femine sexus, ad statim se facturum. Isto
eodem coronacionis die, nepotem suum, comitem Cancie,
apud Dublineam cum magna mundi vana gloria in regem
coronare Hibernie, pluresque proceres regni Anglie, ad tan-
tam solempnitatem calide vocandos, interimere dampnaliter
proposuit, ipsum comitem et alios juvenes per ipsum, ut
premittitur, exaltatos cum eorum possessionibus ditare cap-
tando. Sed Roboe Salamonis filio, consilium juvenum quia
insecuto, regnum Israel amittenti iste Ricardus merito
poterit cum suis juvenibus consiliariis assimulari: iij.
Regum, xij. capitulo.

Coronacionis in crastino, primo scilicet die novi regis
parliamenti, plebei suum locutorem, dominum Johannem
Cheyny, militem, regi presentarunt. Rex &b omnibus
dominis spiritualibus et temporalibus homagium ligium
recepit. Item, parliamentum ultimum domini Ricardi tune
regis penitus fuit revocatum ; et hoc die Martis contingente.
Item, die Mercurii sequenti, Henricum, primogenitum suum,
per quinque insignia, scilicet: per virge auree tradicionem,
per osculum, per circulum, per anulum, et per sue creacionis
literas, in principem erexit Walie. Item, cause revoca-
cionis dicti parliamenti declarate fuerant: propter terrores
et minas paribus regni tunc, si regis voto non parerent,
inflictas ; secundo, propter vim armatam regi tunc assisten-
cium in parliamento fulminatam; tercio, quia comitatus,
civitates, et burgi liberam eleccionem, in creacione plebei-
orum parliamenti, non habuerant. Item, quod parlia-
mentum dicti Ricardi, undecimo anno, totum per ducem
Gloweestrie et comitem Arundelle causatum, sue firmitatis
vires haberet. Item, quod quilibet per dicti Ricardi ulti-
mum parliamentum aliqualiter suo jure privatus ipso facto
ad sua esset restituendus. Rexque primogenito suo prin-

ee ROIS OE

ADA DE USK 37

cipatum Wallie, ducatum Cornubie ad tune eciam cum
comitatu Cestrie concessit pariterque contulit.

Johannes Halle, familiaris ducis Northfolchie, quia
ducis Glocestrie morti consenciendo interfuit, per par-
liamentum dampnatus, trahitur, suspenditur, ac, ejus
visceribus extractis et coram eo crematis, adhuc vivus
decapitatur et quatripertitur ; cujus quarta pars, dextram
ianum contingens, ultra pontem Londoniensem in palo
ponitur.

Istius parliamenti tempore, duo regis valecti, Londoniis
cenantes, in v. ovis, quibus eis serviebatur, appertissimas
hominum facies, in omnibus similitudinem continentes,
invenerunt, que loco crinium habuerunt albedinem a fa-
ciebus separatam ultra verticem coagulatam et ad mentum
per fauces descendentem ; quorum unum vidi.

Dominus Ricardus nuper rex, post ejus deposicionem,
circa medie noctis obscurissime silencium, per Thamesim
evectus, ululando et cum clamore se natum fuisse con-
doluit. Cui unus miles ibi excistens dixit sibi: “ Cogites
quod eodem modo comitem Arundelle per omnia malig-
nissime tractasti.”

Dominus meus Cantuariensis, ab exilio reversus et per
papam ad ecclesiam suam contra Rogerum Walden resti-
tutus, peciit a parliamento quod posset bona ejusdem
Rogeri, ubicumque inventa, pro fructibus et aliis ipsius
bonis exilii sui tempore! per eum perceptis, distringere, et
sic sua debita exigere et relevare; quod concessum fuit
sibi. Et verum est quod dominus Ricardus dederat eidem
Rogero omnia superlectilia et alia quecumque ejusdem
Thome, Cantuariensis archiepiscopi, utensilia, quia confis-
cata, ut asseruit, ad valorem vj. M. marcarum eciam, preter
maneriorum ecclesie Cantuariensis instauraciones; que
omnia dictus Rogerus Walden, in archiepiscopum subro-
gatus, habuit et ocupavit. De quibus comes Somerset,

1 temperie. MS.

A D. 13899.

A.D. 1899.

f. 164 b.

Walden.

38 CHRONICON

audito de adventu dicti Thome in regnum, vj. carucatas,
per Walden versus castrum de Saltwod pro tutamine dis-
positas, ab ipsius familiaribus abstulit; que omnia dicto
Thome postea liberavit. De quibus inter cetera, festo
Nativitatis Beate Virginis, modicum ante istud parlia-
mentum, quando fui in prandio cum dicto domino meo
reverso aput Lamhyth, vidi qualiter dictus Rogerus ex
aularum et camerarum ornamentis quibuscumque, que dicti
domini Thome erant, et sibi in predam versis, arma dicti
domini Thome, scilicet comitatus Arundelle cum circum-
ferencia, quia ipsius nobilis comitis filius erat, subtulerat
et exuerat, et sua propria: de rubio, cum ligamine blodio
et una merinula aurea, loco ipsorum insuta, subrogaverat
et consuerat. Sed modicum valuerunt ibi, quia, eis sub-
latis, idem dominus Thomas iterato propria textorum artis
subtilitate armaque et insignia restituit ; dictique Rogeri,
ut premittitur, sublata tune vidi sub scannis, in derisum
habita, jacere, et per famulos extra fenestras proici pariter
et jactari. Vidi eciam, quando idem Rogerus venit ad
palacium domini episcopi Londoniensis, a domino duce,
jam rege, et a dicto domino Thoma graciam petiturus, quam
quoad ipsius vitam obtinuit. Et sic Thomas et Rogerus, si
fas est dicere, duo archiepiscopi in una ecclesia, quasi duo
capita in uno corpore, Rogerus scilicet tune per papam in
possessione juris, et dominus Thomas, quia nondum per
papam restitutus, per seculi tamen potestatem in posses-
sione facti, que prevaluit in omnibus, quia sibi soli crucis
Cantuariensis, sibi a dicto Rogero remisse, paruit in om-
nibus delacio. Iste Rogerus vir fuit modestus, pius, et
affabilis, verba utilia et composita proferens, magis milita-
ribus et mundialibus negociis quam clericalibus aut libera-
libus imbutus. Primo, regis Ricardi Gallicus thesaurarius,
postea ejus secretarius, et demum Anglie thesaurarius
ejusque principalis consiliarius. Quem villa Walden in
comitatu Essexie ex carnificis filio ad premissa, licet per
saltum nimis festinanter, sublimavit. Unde poete verifi-

5S NEA

ADA DE USK 39

catur proverbium : “ Festinata substancia cito minuetur ” ;
et alias, “ Nemo repente fit summus.” Unde versus :—

*“Funere detecto, Thomas antistes abibit ;
Et lapis erectus ad terram funditus ibit.”

“ Funere detecto,” scilicet quia rex Ricardus continue in
sompnis habuit caput comitis Arundel corpori fore restitu-
tum ; unde funus fecit detegi. “Thomas antistes abibit” ;
i.e. exilium ejusdem Thome. “Et lapis erectus,” et cetera,
i.e. Walden, quod est ereccio lapidum. Et est antiqua
prophecia.

Plebei petiverunt a rege, in pleno parliamento, quod
nichil indigne alicui conferret, et presertim de hiis que ad
coronam pertinebant. Et tunc episcopus Assavensis in hec
verba prorupit: “ Ista peticio incivilis est et injusta, quia
concludit ad regis tenacitatem, quod omni regalitati con-
trarium existit, cui pocius largitatis affluencia convenire
denoscitur. Concludit eciam quod subditi suum regem
a sui innata bonitate restringerent. Que mihi non videntur
honesta. Ideo non ipse, sed injuste et indigne petens,
veniat pocius puniendus.” Et hee responsio placuit mihi,
propter le Codex: “De peticionibus, bonorum sublatis,”
lex ij.!

Item, ordinatum fuit quod domini regni pannorum seu
signorum et presertim capiciorum sectam aut liberatum de
cetero alicui, nisi familiaribus continue cum eis commoran-
tibus, non conferrent, propter plures sediciones per ea in
regno causatas,

Item, licet omnes alii, in ultimo parliamento regis Ricardi
lesi, essent ipso jure ad sua restituti, comes tamen Warwic
non nisi per specialem graciam, pro eo quod confessus
fuerat se cum duce Glowcestrie et comite Arundell pro-
ditorie contra regem insurrexisse.

Item, rex transtulit corpus ducis Gloweestrie a loco ubi,
in sui vilipendium, in parte australi ecclesie, remotius

1 Codex, x. tit. xij. 1. ij.

A.D. 1899,

Versus
prophecie.

A.D. 1899,

f. 165.

Nota de
sermone.

Kemsyng.
Landogy.

Nota de
Raglane.

40 CHRONICON

a regibus ipsum Richardus sepeliri fecerat, et in loco, per
ipsum in vita disposito, inter feretrum Sancti Edwardi et
suorum tumbas parentum, cum sua uxore modicum ante
defuncta, in magna sepelture solempnitate collocavit’. Ubi
et quando, bonam predicacionem audivi sub isto themate:
“Memorare novissima tua.” Et dividebat in iij partes:
primo, memorare vite tue ; secundo, vilicacionis tue ; tercio,
finis tui. Iterato, primam partem in tria: memorare vite
tue in ingressu, in progressu, in egressu. Sicut eciam
secundam partem: qualiter in vilicacionem intrasti; secundo,
qualiter quesisti; tercio, qualiter expendisti. Sic eciam
terciam, scilicet memorare finis: scilicet, qualiter ad judi-
cium citaberis; secundo, qualiter rimaberis; tercio, qua-
liter judicaberis. Et tune finitum est parliamentum. |

Hiis diebus, dictus dominus meus Cantuariensis contulit
mihi bonam ecclesiam de Kemsynge, cum capella sua de
Seol, in Cancia; et bonam prebendam de Landoky, in
ecclesia collegiata de Aberguyli. Et ecclesiam de Scherys-
newtone, in inferiori Wencia, quam ex indulgencia sedis
appostolice cum aliis beneficiis curatis ocupaveram, con-
sobrino meo domino Thome ap Adam ap Wyllelmi de
Weloc, et ecclesiam suam de Panteke alii cognato meo,
domino Matheo ap Hoel, conferri et per eos haberi
optinui.

Eciam impetravi domino Jacobo de Bercley, domino de
Raglane, et Elizabethe uxori sue et suis heredibus, sub
magna carta regis, dictum dominium et alia eorum dominia
sub gloriosa fortuna per regem confirmari.

1 In the upper margin of f. 165 are written these lines:—

“ Qui regis, intende rotam fortune cavende.
Hew! per auriliques victus cupidosque bilingues. | Rex Ricardus
Ecce, quidam procerus regum, Rychard recolendus. | secundus.
Hew! cui servierat fraude peremptus erat.”

2 Kcclest. vij. 40.

Seti
a a Se

— ree Te

ADA DE USK 41

Tune eciam vidi cum rege mirabilis condicionis lepora-
rium, quia, domino suo comite Cancie defuncto, ex proprio
sensu ad regem Ricardum, quem prius nunquam viderat,
in locis remotis existentem accessit; et cum eo semper
lateri suo ubicumque diverteret, staret, sive jaceret, rigido
ac si leonino vultu continue, quousque idem rex, circa me-
diam noctem, ab exercitu suo latenter et vecorditer, ut pre-
mittitur, fugerat, semper assistebat ; et tunc, ipso relicto,
proprio eciam sensu, solus sine aliquo ducente directe venit
a Caermerthyn Salopiam ad Lancastrie ducem, jam regem,
in monasterio cum exercitu tunc existentem, me vidente, se
sibi, quem prius non viderat, humillimo et hilarissimo et
gaudenti vultu inclinando, Cujus cum condicionem dux
audierat, credens per hoc bona sibi pronosticari, eum liben-
tissime et gaudenter recepit, ipsum super lectum suum
dormire permittendo. Et post depossicionem regis Ricardi,
ad ipsum idem leporarius ductus, eum alio modo quam
unum privatum sibi incognitum respicere non curavit ;
quod idem Ricardus depositus dolenter ferebat.

Hiis diebus, Usce nascebatur vitulus habens duas caudas,
duo capita, quatuor oculos, et quatuor aures. Talem eciam
vidi, tempore juventutis mee, in parochia de Lankenyo, in
domo cujusdam mulieris, Llugu vez Watkyn vocate, abor-
tum. Nascitur eciam, in parochia de Lanpadok, unus puer
masculus cum uno oculo tantum in fronte situato.

In vigilia Epiphanie, comites de Kent de Huntington et
de Sarum calide et dolose regem novum interficere, et depos-
itum a carceribus restituere, clam armata et magna manu
potissime, quia ducum status et possessiones dampnatorum
eis collatas amiserant, satagentes versus castrum de Wyn-
desor, simulando se ibidem hastiludia exercere, et sic, cap-
tato introitu, regem et filios ac alios sibi speciales assistentes
trucidare proponebant. Sed rex precautus subito Londo-
niam pro tutamine transivit. Unde de Kent et de Sarum
comites ad comitatum Cestrie, pro eorum sibi ad hoc
insurgencium favore et auxilio habendis, per Cyrencestriam

A.D, 1899,

Nota de
leporario.

Nota de
vitulis.

Nota de
monoculo,

A.D. 1400.

A.D. 1400.

f. 165 b.

Mors
Ricardi.

42 CHRONICON

transierunt ; ubi, in crastino Epiphanie, plebeiorum pagen-
sium tumultu decapitatifuerunt. Et plures cum eis inventi,
Oxoniam ducti, ibi decapitati extiterunt ; quorum cadavera,
partita ad modum ferinarum carnium venacione occupa-
tarum, partim in sacculis, partim inter duos super humeros
in baculis, Londoniam deferri et postea sale condiri vidi.
Item, comes Hundyngdon per Essexem ad Franciam fugere
volens, per pagences captus, in eodem loco quo et dux
Glowcestrie se Ricardo nuper regi reddidit, per plebeyos et
mecanicos decapitatur. De quibus rex domino meo Can-
tuariensi scripsit; unde ipse sub isto themate: “ Nuncio
vobis magnum gaudium,”! per modum sermonis, hoe clero
et populo Londoniis publicavit, et, cantato ymno, “ Te deum
laudamus,” Deo regraciando per civitatem cum solempni
transivit processione.

Postmodum, plures alii, inter quos magister Ricardus
Maudelen, Wyllylmus Ferby, clerici, Thomas Schelly et
Barnabas Broccas, milites, tracti, suspensi, demum quia
hujusmodi facinoris conscii et fautores decapitabantur.

Jam hii in quibus Ricardus nuper rex fiduciam habuit
relevaminis ceciderunt. Quo audito, magis usque ad sui
mortem lugendo condoluit, in castro de Pomffret catenis
ligato, et victualium penuria domino N. Swynford ipsum
tormentante, sibi ultimo die Februarii miserabiliter con-
tingentem.

In coronacione istius domini, tria regalitatis insignia
tria sibi infortunia portentabant. Primo, in processione,
unum de coronacionis sotularibus perdidit ; unde et primo
plebei contra ipsum insurgentes ipsum post per totam
vitam suam detestabantur: secundo, unum de calcaribus
aureis ab eo cecidit ; unde et militares, secundo, sibi rebel-
lando adversabantur: tercio, in prandio subitus venti
impetus coronam a capite deposuit; unde, tercio et finaliter,
a regno depositus et per regem Henricum supplantatus fuit *.

1 More correctly: “ Evangelizo vobis gaudium magnum.” Luc. jj. 10.
2 This paragraph is added in the margin.

ADH DE USK 43

Nune Ricarde, vale! ymmo rex, si fas est dicere, valen-
tissime ; cum post mortem laudare sit cuique, si cum Deo
et populi tui relevamine acta tua disposuisses merito lau-
danda, Sed, quamvis cum Salamone dapsilis, cum Absalone
pulcher, cum Assuero gloriosus, cum Belino magno pre-
cellens edificator existens, ad modum Cosdre regis Persarum
in manus Eraclii, sic in medio glorie tue, rota labente
fortune, in manus ducis Henrici miserrime, cum interna
populi tui malediccione, cecidisti.

Interim, dominus de Spenser, dominus de Glanmorgan,
quia ejusdem prodicionis conscius et fautor, Bristolie per
mecanicos vilissime decapitatur. Quorum sic ruencium
capita,in palis ultra pontem Londoniensem fixa, aliquamdiu
publice patebant. Sed, quia omnia ista plebeiorum sola
ferocitate extiterunt perpetrata, timeo quod gladii posses-
sionem, eis jam tolleratam contra ordinis racionem, in
dominos magis in futurum vibrare causabuntur.

Item, omnes albe carte, in quibus per totam Angliam
regni subditi regi Ricardo sibi sub sigillis suis se ad votum
submiserunt, ac si novus conquestus regni esset factus, in
summitate lancearum publice delate Londoniam, cremate
fuerunt, cum suorum infinitate sigillorum.

Episcopus Norwycensis, dicti domini de Spenser patruus,
quia de dicta prodicione accusatus, non temporalium car-
ceribus sed domini mei Cantuariensis custodie traditur,
judicium expectaturus, ob reverenciam pontificalis digni-
tatis. Sed postea rex ipsum ecclesie et statui simpliciter
restituit.

Episcopus Karliencis, nuper monachus Westmonasteri-
ensis, de dicta prodicione coram regis justiciariis per duo-
denam laycorum convictus et dampnatus, in Turri Londoni-
ensi aliquamdiu carcerum catenatus langoribus cruciatus,
alio enim in ejus episcopatu subrogato, suo pristino mona-
chaliter victurus! restituitur monasterio, licet Millatenci
intitulatus pontificatu.

1 viviturus. MS.

A.D. 1400.

A.D, 1400.

f. 166.

Libertas
ecclesie,
ecce !

Parcitur
plebeis.

44 CHRONICON

Isto anno, dominus meus Cantuariensis, suo convocato
clero, eis! lamentabiliter proposuit qualiter temporales
libertates ecclesie Anglicane, et presertim in capiendo,
carcerando, et indeferenter quasi laicos episcopos judicando,
violare non formidant. “Vere, domine,” dixi, “ discur-
rendo per corpus juris et cronicas, plus crudelitatis in-
venitur in Anglia prelatis quam in tota Cristianitate fuisse
irrogatum.” Allegavi capitulum: “Sicut dignum,”? de
homicidio, et plura alia, et breviter, quoad casum pre-
sentem, scilicet episcopos incarcerando, Clementinam : “Si
quis suadente,” de penis *, que, propter incarceracionem
episcopi Lychfeldensis, tempore Edwardi secundi regis
Anglie, emanavit. Dominus Cantuariensis tune retulit
qualiter jam tarde Symon Yslep, predecessor suus, videns
suffraganeum suum, Wyllelmum Lyle, tune Eliencem epis-
copum, in aula Westmonasterienci criminaliter tractum
ante regis justiciariorum stare tribunal, cepit eum per
manum dextram, sic dicendo: “Subditus meus es. In
vetito stas examine coram non tuo judice. Veni mecum!”
Et sic, invito justiciario, eum secum abduxit. Episcopus
tamen, in Anglia non audens remanere, ad curiam Romanam
transiit, et ibi illum justiciarium excommunicari, ac ipsum
interim mortuum ecclesiastica sepultura exui et in foveam
proici, obtinuit.

Audito quod Francia et Scocia Angliam invadere se para-
bant, rex, dominos spirituales et temporales solum collec-
tando, pepercit plebeis.

Corpus domini Ricardi, nuper regis Anglie, ad ecclesiam
Sancti Pauli Londoniensem, non velata facie sed publice
cuique ostensa, ducitur; ubi exeqiis ea nocte et in crastino
missa habitis, aput Langlei inter fratres tumilatur. O Deus!
quantas millenas marcas circa vane glorie sepulturas, sibi
et uxoribus suis inter reges Westmonasterii faciendas, ex-

1 jus. MS 2 Decret. Greg. ix., lib. v., tit. xij. § vj.
5 Decret. Clement. lib. v., tit. viij. § i.

ADA DE USK 45

pendidit. Contra tamen hujusmodi propositum fortuna A.D. 1400.
disponit contrarium.

Moritur frater Wyllylmus Botsame, episcopus Roffencis,
prius Landavencis, et in ejus locum erigitur magister Jo-
hannes Botsam, domini mei Cantuariencis cancellarius.
Moritur eciam graciosus vir, Johannes ap Gr[uffyd], abbas
de Lanternane, qui monasterium suum, totaliter casuate pe
crematum, annis in paucis mirabiliter funditus restauravit.

Cui summe prudencie vir, Johannes ap Hoel, ejusdem
monasterii prior, successit.

Ista Quadragesima, civitatis Londoniencis pueri, sepius Confluctus
ad millia congregati reges inter se erigendo, ad modum P™*O™™
bellicosum, juxta vires eorundem, mutuo pugnabant ; unde
plures ictibus percussi, pedibus calcati, locorumque artitu-
dine oppressi, moriebantur, ad magnum populi mirum
quid hoc pronosticaret: credo quod pestilenciam, anno
sequenti contingentem, in qua pro majori parte ab hac
luce transierunt. Tamen ab hujusmodi eorum conflucti-
bus, quousque rex sub gravibus minis eorum parentibus et
magistris hoc cohibere scripserat, restringi non poterant.

Contulit mihi princeps, tercio die mensis Mai, unam pre- Prebenda
bendam in ecclesia Bangorensi. Item, quarto die istius ste be
mensis, scilicet Maii, domino Henrico rege in aula sua
infra Turrim Londoniensem regali more condecenter pro
tribunali sedente, dominus de Morlei, qui alias comitem
Sarum de prodicione accusaverat, eo quod, die ad duel-
landum eis assignato, idem comes tercio non satisfecerat,
ipsum, juxta formam accusacionis, proditorem adjudicari
et in expensis suos fidejussores condempnari peciit. Ymmo
nomine suo, licet capellanus, quia ipse comes, ut premit-
titur, mortuus fuit, sentencialiter et diffinitive pecii. Pars
adversa excepit de morte ante diem indictam scisti. Unde Sentencia
replicavi quod proditorie insurgendo mortem sibi causavit, ae
et sic aggressu proprio ruit. Per cy: in lege, “Si deces-
serit,” [in titulo] “Qui satisdare cogantur,”! in Justiniani

1 Digest. 11. tit. viij. 1. 4.

A.D,1400.

f. 166 b.

46 CHRONICON

operibus ; et, “Si homo scisti,” lex, “Si eum;”? titulus,
“ Si quis caucionibus ;”? et, “ Judicatum solvi,” lex, “ Judi-
catum ;”? et Codex, “De custodia reorum,’ lex, “Ad
Commentariensem.”’* Et breviter, contra fidejussores dicti
comitis pars mea obtentum habuit, me in ec. solidis et duo-
decim virgatis searleti remunerando.

Hoc anno, scilicet Domini mecce’, per totam Angliam
magna et presertim innoscentum regnayit pestilencia, subito
quasi irruens et animas tollens. Moritur dominus Johan-
nes de Usk, abbas de Certeseia, cum xiij. monachis. Iste
bone memorie in theologia inceptor, vir utique maxime
sanctitatis, Beate Virginis obsequius incistendo, die Nativi-
tatis ejusdem Virginis, ad hoc per eum, quia in ejus
parochia natum et in lavacro baptizatum aput Usk, sub
eodem festo semper preoptatum, suum Domino direxit
spiritum. Utinam ejus vie consors fieri mererer! In
transitu suo secum fui, et benediccionem suam, de quo
gaudeo, recepi sub hiis verbis: “lam benediccionem,
quam Beata Virgo filio suo Domino Jesu et quam Isaac
filio suo Jacob contulerunt, tibi confero.” Iste abbas, per
Beatam Virginem in sopore suo consolatus, recte in ipso
transitu suo quasi fratribus suis et mihi dixit: ‘“ Inimicus
dedit mihi insidias ; sed benedicta Virgo Maria, cum dua-
bus aliis dominabus mihi in succursum superveniens,
inimicum penitus expulit, me consolando quod de cetero
me non turbaret, et quod ipsa cum aliis dominabus a me
non recederet, quousque spiritum meum secum salvum
haberet.” Et quasi levis sopor ipsum tune occupavit. Et
quidam frater suus, Wyllylmus Burtoun, excitavit eum,
dicens sibi: “Sitis forti animo, quia bene valebitis!”

1 Digest. 11. tit. ix. 1. 10.

2 Thid. tit. xj. 3 Ibid. XLVI. tit. vij. 1. 6.

* Cod. ix. tit. iv. 1.4. The references are thus quoted in the MS.:
“ per cy. in 1. si decesserit, q. sa. co. in. j. op. et si ho. scisti. 1. si eum.
tt. si quis cauc. et iudi. sol. 1. iudi™™, et c. de cus. r. ]. ad commen-
tariensem.”

|

ADZ DE USK 47

Respondit abbas: “ Benedictus Deus! bene valebo. Tace
et audi.” Dixit monachus: “Quid audiam?” “ Multi-
tudinem angelorum cum summa melodia canencium, ‘ Veni,
benedicte fili patris celestis, posside regnum ejus in eternam
‘tibi hereditatem.” Tune ille: “Non audio. Utinam
dignus audire essem!” Et sic spiritum, sine aliquali
turbacionis motu, direxit ad Dominum.

Eodem anno, rex cum magno et glorioso exercitu transiit
in Scociam ad Scotorum ferocitatem domandam. Ipsi
tamen propria rura, domos, et predia, ne regi nostro aliquid
cederet, in refugium preveniendo, devastarunt et denuda-
runt; ac, se delitentes ad frutices ac deviarum cavernarum
et nemorum abdita, a facie regis se subtraxerunt, Tamen,
ex hujusmodi absconditis sepius exeuntes, in desertis deviis
ac diversoriis nostratum quam plures interfecerunt et capti-
varunt, plus nobis quam nos eis dampni inferendo,

Rex, in festo Decollacionis Sancti Johannis Baptiste, in
Angliam rediit, et, audito aput Leicestriam qualiter Oenus,
dominus de Glendordee, cum Northe-Walencibus eundem
Oenum principem erigentibus, rebellando hostiliter insur-
rexerat, ac castra quam plura occupaverat, burgas! ubique
per Anglicos inter eos inhabitatas, ipsas depredando et
Anglicos profugando, cremaverat, sui armata juventute
collecta, suas bellicosas acies in Northe-Waliam direxit ;
quibus edomatis et deportatis, dictus eorum princeps cum
septem aliis tantum rupibus et cavernis per annum quasi
delituit. Rex cum aliis se paci reddentibus paucissimos
interimendo misericorditer egit, ipsorum tamen princi-
paliores secum Salopiam ducens captivos. Et postmodo,
sub condicione alios adhuc in Snowdonia et aliunde rebel-
lantes prosequendi et capiendi, dimisit eosdem.,

Circa festum Beate Fidis, comes Northomerland et filius
suus, dominus Henricus Perci, cum Scotis, Angliam post
recessum regis invadentibus, habuerunt magnum conflictum ;
unde c. milites et armigeros ex Scotis captivando et ceteros

? burgus. MS.

A.D. 1400.

Moritur
abbas de
Certeseya.

A.D. 1400,

Bonus
dolus con-
tra hostes.

f. 167.

Breve
regium.

Questiones
inter
Anglie et
Francie
regna.

Factum.

48 CHRONICON

in fugam propellendo. Causa victorie fuit ista: Anglici
garciones, a tergo dominorum suorum tempore pugne equis
insedentes, caute et optime hostili dolo unanimiter clama-
bant: “ Scoti fugiunt! Scoti fugiunt!” Hoc Scoti in belli
fronte pugnantes nimium timendo, dum rei veritatem
exploraturi a tergo respicerent, geminatis ictibus in auri-
bus et collis malleis pulsati ceciderunt.

Ex parte regis hujusmodi breve presencium compilatori
directum extitit: “ Rex dilecto sibi M. A. U., legum doctori,
salutem. Nonnulla dubia in scriptis, que statum et hono-
rem regni nostri concernunt, vobis mittimus sub pede sigilli
nostri, rogantes attencius et firmiter injungentes ut, hiis
cum bona et matura deliberacione inspectis, ac materia
eorundem plenius intellecta, vestrum sanum consilium et
responsum in scriptis, vos in singulis per jura fundantes,
nobis aut consilio nostro, citra festum Sancti Michaelis
proxime futurum, omni excusacione postposita, et absque
difficultatis obstaculo, transmittatis. Et ulterius, propter
diversas opiniones aliorum juris peritorum que forsan ex-
pedicionem negocii illius poterunt retardare, volumus et
mandamus quod in propria persona vestra sitis coram dicto
consilio nostro, aput Westmonasterium, in octabis festi
predicti, una cum hiis qui vobiscum in examine predicto
studiose concurrent, vestrum in premissis ibidem consilium
inpensuri, et finem ac conclusionem super dictis opinionibus
imposituri, Et hoc, sub fide qua nobis tenemini, et sicut
honorem et conservacionem status regni nostri diligitis,
nullatenus omittatis. Teste me ipso aput Westmonasterium,
xij° die Septembris, anno regni nostri primo.”

“Sequntur questiones super articulis tangentibus matri-
monium initum inter dominum Ricardum, nuper regem
Anglie, et dominam Isabellam, filiam regis Francie. Et
primo, motiva et cause super matrimonio hujusmodi contra-
hendo sequuntur.

“In tractatu nuper habito racione matrimonii inter Ricar-
dum, regem Anglie, et filiam regis Francie, spe concepta

ip

ADH DE USK 49

quod grandia et communia innumerabilia scandala, mala,
inconveniencie, dampna, et effusio sanguinis humani, que,
racione discordiarum et guerrarum inter regna, etc., hac-
tenus evenerunt, cessent in posterum; et quod melius et
celerius perveniri valeat ad bonas conclusiones, pacem, et
concordiam inter regna predicta, longe futuris temporibus
duraturas ; ac inter reges illos et successores suos vinculum
affinitatis existere ; necnon inter regna sua et eorum sub-
ditos amicicia et conversacio mirifice enutriri: fuerat inter
cetera concordatum quod dicta regina dicto Ricardo debet
matrimonialiter copulari, et quod rex Francie, contempla-
cione dicti maritagii, solveret dicto regi Ricardo octingintos
mille francos ; unde soluti fuerant quingenti mille franci.

“Ttem, concordatum erat quod, si post solemnizacionem
dicti matrimonii rex Anglie discesserit sine liberis de dicto
matrimonio procreatis, et quod dicta regina ipsum regem
supervixerit, ipsa existente infra etatem vel etate xij. anno-
rum plenarie non completorum, summa quingentorum mille
francorum, aut illud quod fuerit solutum de dicta majori
summa ultra summam trecentorum mille francorum, deberet
restitui prefate regine: ad quod dictus rex Anglie obligavit
se et heredes et successores suos et habentes causam ac
omnia bona sua mobilia et immobilia, tune presencia et
futura, consensu tamen parliamenti ad hoc non inter-
veniente.

“ Numquid rex Anglie modernus ex hoc fuerit obligatus
per dominum regem Ricardum, et teneatur ad restitucionem
pecunie sic recepte ultra trecenta millia francorum, attento
quod, in obligacione antedicta per regem Ricardum, ut
premittitur, facta, regnum non prestiterit suum consensum ?
Et, si non, numquid cause et suggesciones in tractatu matri-
monii expresse, ac superius enarrate, que utilitatem publi-
cam utriusque regni videntur respicere, regem modernum
ad restitucionem dicte pecunie poterunt astringere et suffi-
cienter obligare ?

1 tria, MS.
E

A.D, 1400.

Factum.

Questio.

Questio.

f. 167 b.

A.D, 1400.

Factum.

Questio.

Factum.

Questio.

50 CHRONICON

“Item, vigore tractatus, dominus noster rex modernus,
tempore quo fuerat comes Derbeie, et alii domini proxi-
miores de regali sanguine omnes simul et singuli, pro se
et particulariter propriis heredibus et successoribus et
habentibus causam, per suas litteras promiserunt, ex certa
sua sciencia et plenaria voluntate, quod, si dictus rex
Ricardus decederet ante consummacionem dicti maritagii,
dicta regina, libera et soluta ab omnibus ligamentis et im-
pedimentis matrimonii et aliis obligacionibus quibuscumque,
deberet plene restitui, cum omnibus jocalibus et bonis suis,
regi Francie, patri suo, heredi et successori suo, obligantes
et expresse ypothecantes dictus comes et alii domini supra-
dicti se ipsos, heredes, et successores eorum predictos et
habentes causam, et eorum bona quecunque mobilia et im-
mobilia, tune presencia et futura, pro premissis et quolibet
eorum tenendis et servandis, fiendis, et plenarie adimplendis,
juxta formam et tenorem dictarum litterarum obligatoriarum
et tractatus de et super maritagio supradicto.

“Queritur, quomodo debet intelligi de bonis hujusmodi,
an de illis dumtaxat que cum regina fuerant liberata, an
tam illa quam alia ex tunc hactenus acquisita per eam; et
an ducenta millia francorum, de quibus supra in tractatu
matrimonii supradicti fit mencio, sub et in bonis hujusmodi
debeant comprehendi ? ”

“ Sequntur questiones super aliis articulis tangentibus tres
milliones scutorum per regem Francie regi Anglie solven-
dorum :—

*Olim, in tractatu pacis finalis inter Johannem, regem
Francie, et Edwardum, regem Anglie, fuerat inter cetera
concordatum quod rex Francie solveret regi Anglie, vel
suo deputato, tres milliones scutorum auri, certis terminis
limitatis ; ad quam solucionem faciendam rex Francie, aput
Calisias, dum erat in potestate regis Anglie, obligavit
se et heredes suos, et eorum bona, mobilia et immobilia.
Unde medietas restat solvenda.

“ Numquid rex Anglie modernus poterit juste petere de

ADA DE USK 51

rege Francie moderno hujusmodi pecuniam non solutam;
et, si non, an competat accio executoribus regis Edwardi;
et, si sic, numquid rex Anglie modernus, jure directo et
utili ab executoribus regis Edwardi sibi cesso, tanquam
cessionarius poterit eandem pecuniam petere ?”

“Sequitur tenor effectus literarum dicti regis Francie
super premisso articulo, in quibus cause tractatus hujus-
modi continentur: ‘Johannes dei gracia rex Francie omni-
bus et singulis presentibus et futuris, notum vobis facimus
per presentes quod, super omnibus dissencionibus et dis-
cordiis quibuscumque, motis inter nos, pro nobis et pro
omnibus illis ad quos pertinet ex una parte, et regem
Anglie et omnes illos quos tangere poterit ex altera parte,
pro bono pacis, extitit concordatum, tali die et tali loco,
modo qui sequitur: In primo quod rex Anglie habebit talia
castra et talia loca, ete. Item, concordatum est quod rex
Francie solvet regi Anglie, vel deputato suo, tria millia
millium scutorum auri certis terminis,’ etc. ;

“ Ttem, ex quo rex Francie, captus in guerris per regem
Anglie, in concordia pacis finalis obligavit se et heredes
suos ad solvendum regi Anglie tres milliones, dum idem rex
Francie Calesius in potestate regis Anglie erat, non facta
mencione in litteris dicte concordie quod illa solucio fieret
racione financie redempcionis ejusdem regis Francie, num-
quid illa obligacio viciatur ex eo quod pretenditur metum
intervenisse, non obstante quod notorium sit toti mundo
quod summa pecunie pro redempcione seu financia debe-
batur hujusmodi ?

“Post dictam obligacionem prefatus rex Francie, aput
Bolaniam, in sua libertate, ut asseruit, constitutus, in litteris
suis recitavit illum articulum, in quo cavetur quod rex
Francie solveret regi Anglie, vel deputato suo, dictam sum-
mam terminis, ut premittitur, limitatis ; et subsequenter, in
eisdem litteris, narrat se solvisse carissimo fratri suo, regi
Anglie, certam summam pecunie, in parte solueionis dicte
majoris summe; et in illis litteris obligavit se et heredes

E2

A.D. 1400.

Questio.

Litere.

Factum.

Questio.

Factum.

f. 168.

A.D. 1400,

Questio.

Factum.

Questio.

Factum.

Questio.

52 CHRONICON

suos et eorum bona quecunque ad solvendum dicto fratri suo
residuum non solutum, volens quod omnes alie obligaciones
in hac parte prius facte pro nullo penitus habeantur.

“ Queritur sicut prius in dicto articulo, et presertim num-
quid hee secunda obligacio regis Francie facta Bolonie, de
predicta pecunia solvenda regi Anglie, videatur primam
obligacionem factam regi Anglie tollere seu ipsam quovis-
modo novare, cum de ipsius consensu expresse circa hoc
non appareat per scripturam.

“Ttem, in alio articulo in eodem tractatu expresse con-
tinetur quod, rege Francie certa castra, etc., restituente,
simili modo rex Anglie certa castra alia, per se et suos
occupata, teneatur restituere.

“ Numquid, si appareat quod rex Francie castra, etc., resti-
tuerit, ac premissa omnia pro parte sua adimpleverit, at rex
Anglie promissa per eum non perfecerit, solucio pecunie
promisse per regem Francie regi Anglie, prout in tractatu
continetur, juste poterit denegari ?

“Item, in alio articulo in tractatu [de] quo supra fit
mencio continetur quod rex Francie certa castra promisit
regi Anglie liberare, quoque, post liberacionem hujusmodi,
certas renunciaciones super certis juribus et resorto ac aliis
faceret; necnon literas super hujusmodi renunciacione et
dimissione, sigillo suo sigillatas, certo termino, aput Bruges,
regi Anglie aut deputatis suis faceret liberari realiter et
tradi. Et rex Anglie promisit simili modo certa castra
liberare ac juri, quoad coronam Francie, renunciare, etc.

“Si appareat quod rex Francie ex parte sua, predictis
die et loco, premissa omnia paratus erat adimplere; nec
appareat quod rex Anglie promissa per eum in hac parte
perfecit, seu quod nuncios suos ad Bruges in termino limi-
tato transmiserit, qui promissa et oblata per regem Francie
poterant acceptare et promissa per regem Anglie eciam
adimplere—numquid solucio pecunie, ut premittitur, per
regem Francie regi Anglie promisse, propter negligenciam
seu defectum dicti regis Anglie, juste poterit denegari ?

ADH DE USK 53

“Ttem, si predicta summa de predictis tribus millionibus
non soluta domino nostro regi Anglie debeatur, jure proprio
seu per executores regis Edwardi cesso, etc., et ita conti-
gerit quod idem dominus rex teneatur restituere domine
regine, filie regis Francie, ducenta millia francorum, de
quibus supra fit mencio, numquid de summis hujusmodi,
hine inde petitis et debitis, debeat de jure fieri compensacio,
licet dicta regina, in hoc casu, censeatur esse tercia persona,
cui fienda est restitucio seu solucio? Quia, quamvis resti-
tucio ducentorum mille francorum referatur ad ipsam re-
ginam, obligacio tamen originaliter fuit contracta et radicata
inter Ricardum, regem Anglie, et Karolum, nunc regem
Francie. Et sic videtur quod rex Anglie modernus, jure
proprio seu cesso, etc., inter easdem personas poterit com-
pensare.

“Item, supposito, absque prejudicio veritatis, quod si rex
modernus, ut comes Derbeie, teneatur predicta ducenta
‘tmnillia restituere, seu illa, ut prefertur, compensare poterit,
numquid alii nobiles secum obligati, tanquam corei seu
confidejussores, teneantur, juxta beneficium epistole, etc., ad
solucionem dictorum ducentorum millium contribuere, séu
eadem ducenta millia de bonis et jocalibus regis Ricardi
idem rex primitus debeat excomputare ?

“Item, presupposito, absque prejudicio eciam veritatis,
quod si rex modernus teneatur reginam cum bonis et joca-
libus simpliciter restituere, juxta formam clausule in trac-
tatu expresse, numquid idem rex modernus, jure proprio,
tanquam rex Anglie, aut jure cesso ab executoribus regis
Edwardi, ut prefertur, excipiendo, restitucionem predicte
regine una cum bonis, etc., poterit impedire, ac jure re-
tencionis uti, quousque rex Francie de residuo trium mil-
lionum, notorie debito et non soluto, regi moderno velit
satisfacere ?

“Istud est querere breviter:—Numquid rex Anglie mo-
dernus predictam excepcionem de residuo non soluto seu
aliam excepcionem poterit apponere, que restitucionem

A.D. 1400,
Questio.

Factum.

Questio.

Factum.

Questio.

f. 168 b.

Questio.

A.D. 1400.

Factum.

Questio.

Questio.

Factum.

Questio.

Moritur
comitissa
Arun-
delle.

54 CHRONICON

regine una cum bonis poterit impedire, quousque excepcio-

nem hujusmodi rex Francie poterit elidere seu removere ?
“Item, ambassiatores domini regis moderni, aput Caliciam,

ambassiatoribus regis Francie nunc ultimo in tractatu pro-

miserunt reginam cum bonis, ante festum Purificacionis

Beate Marie proxime futurum, simpliciter restituere, juxta
formam obligacionis inde facte.
“Si consilium regis Francie, seu ejusdem regine, recusa-

-verit aquitanciam super hujusmodi restitucionem primitus

cum effectu tradere, que mala non faciliter numerabilia
et presertim materiam scandali et effusionem sanguinis
humani poterit tollere et penitus extirpare (et ea omnia
verisimile est aliter evenire occasione hujus matrimonii,
prout sepius inter Angliam et Franciam acciderat, retroactis
temporibus, in diversis terminis consimilibus),—numquid
ergo ambassiatores supradicti restitucionem regine una
cum bonis, non obstante promissione ac eciam salvo honore
regis et regni, poterunt denegare, quousque talem acqui-
tanciam exclusoriam, etc., velint liberare ?

“Item, olim in tractatu pacis finalis, de quo supra in tercio
dubio continetur, fuit inter alia inter eosdem reges concor-
datum, prout asseritur, quamvis hoc non appareat scri-
ptura, quod rex Edwardus stipendiarios suos et alios sibi
subditos, per regnum Francie discurrentes, expensis suis
a regno Francie, infra certum terminum, expelli et penitus
removeri faceret.

“Si appareat quod rex Edwardus promissa non adimplevit
infra predictum terminum, sed eisdem stipendiariis suis et
aliis subditis in armis auxilium, consilium, et favorem
prestitit, numquid, si liqueat de predicta concordia facta
in primo tractatu pacis sive post illum tractatum, ex illo
capite solucio residui dicti trium millionum? juste poterit
denegari ?”

Vij° kalendas Octobris, nobilissima domina mea, domina
Philippa, domini mei comitis Marchie filia, primo juveni

* millium. MS.

ADH DE USK 55

probissimo comiti Penbrochie aput Wotstok in hastiludio
perempto, et postea nobili comiti Arundelle decapitato,
tercio domino de Seynt John conjugata, modicum post-
quam mihi ecclesiam de Westhanfeld, in Essexia, dona-
verat, nondum xxiiij™™ etatis sue annum attingens, aput
Halnakyt juxta Cicestriam, viam universe carnis est
ingressa, et in prioratu de Bosgrove jacet tumulata.

Lumbardi et alii mercatores transmarini aput Londiniam,
in propriis hospiciis morari soliti ac mercimonia sua libere
exponere tollerati, in tantum, more transmarino, sunt re-
stricti, quod non per se, sed in domo alicujus civis in ea
parte fidejussuri, morari debeant; nec sua mercimonia,
nisi juxta ejusdem civis supervisionem, exponere sunt ali-
quatenus permissi.

Dux Bavarie, frater regine Francie, Bohemie rege a diu
imperium occupante, quia inutili et nondum per papam
coronato, contempto, Francorum auxilio in imperatorem
erectus, cum pluribus Francis campestri bello per dictum
regem devincitur,

Quatuor campanelle, ad quatuor angulos tumbe Sancti
Edwardi aput Westmonasterium affixe, propriis motibus et
multo plus quam viribus humanis pulsate, ad magna con-
yentus terrores et prodigia, quater in uno die mirabiliter
sonuerunt,

Fons, in quo caput Llewelini ap Gruffyd, Wallensium
principis ultimi, in pago de Buellt situato’, post ejus
amputacionem lotum extitit, per diem naturalem integrum
(merissime sanguine manavit.

Unum est quod hiis diebus dolenter refero, quod duo
pape, quasi monstrum in natura, jam per xxij. annos tuni-
cam Christi inconsutelem, contra id Sapiencie: “Una est
columba mea’ ’, neffandissime dividendo, mundum ani-
marum erratibus, corporum diversis cruciatorum terroribus,
nimium perturbarunt. Et heu !, si verum est quod memorie

’ retinguntur. MS. ? situati. MS. § Cant. Cantic. vj. 8.

A.D. 1400.

Lumbardi
restrin-

guntur 4.

Fit impe-
rator dux
Bavarie.

Campane
per se
pulsant.

Fons
manat
sanguine.

Duo pape
per xxij.
annos.

f, 169.

A.D. 1400.

Venalitas
in sacer>
docio.

Orna-
menta
ecclesie de
Usk.

Filius
regis
Francie fit
dux
Aquitanie.

Imperator
Grecorum
venit in
Angliam.

56 CHRONICON

reduco, scilicet illud evangelii!: “Vos estis sal terre, sed
quid si sal evanuerit ? Ad nichil valet ultra, nisi ut eicia-
tur foras et conculcetur ab hominibus.” Unde, quia sacer-
docio modo quasi venali, etc., nonne Christus ementes et
vendentes in templo, facto funiculo, ejecit foras? Et unde
timeo, ne cum magna flagellacione et conculcacione a gloria
sacerdocii eiciamur, attendens quod in veteri testamento,
postquam venalitas sacerdocium violarat, fumus impressa-
bilis, ignis inextinguibilis, fetor innocissibilis, cessarunt in
templo. Ut quid mora? En?! mater virgo, juxta id Apo-
calypseos °, a facie bestie in trono sedentis in desertum fugit
cum filio. Hic me jubet quiescere Plato, cum nil sit cercius
morte, nil incercius hora mortis. Ideo, benedicatur Deus !,
in mei originis, scilicet de Usk, ecclesia, jam mori adiscens,
memoriale meum in competentibus missali, gradali, tro-
pario, sequencia, antiphonario, noviter et cum novis ad-
dicionibus et notis compositis, ac plena vestimentorum
secta, cum tribus capis, ornanter compositorum meis signis,
scilicet nudi fodentis in campo nigro, oracionum suffragiis
ibidem me comendando relinquo ; ulterius, si Deus dederit,
ecclesiam eandem reparacione honestiori, ad Beate Vir-
ginis gloriam, in cujus Nativitatis honore est dedicata,
perornare proponens ; hoc ad mei laudem non reputando,

quia presentis fatuitatis mee scripturam in vita mea videri

detestor.

Primogenitus Francie, in exheredacionem et detestacio-
nem regis Anglie, in ducem creatur Aquitanie ; quo statim
mortuo, secundogenitus subrogatus cum exercitu ad partes
Aguitanie sibi transit subjugandas.

Imperator Grecorum, pro subsidio contra Sarazenos
habendo, regem Anglie, ab eo honorifice receptus, in festo
Sancti Thome Apostoli, Londoniam visitat, cum eodem rege
maximis suis expensis per duos menses continue existens,

1 Matt. v.18. More correctly—* Vos estis sal terre. Quod si sal
evanuerit, in quo salietur? Ad nihilum valet ultra nisi ut mittatur
foras,” etc. ; 2 an. MS. 3 Cap. xij. 14.

ADZ DE USK 57

et eciam in recessu maximis donariis relevatus. Iste im-
perator semper uniformiter et sub uno colore, scilicet albo,
in longis robis, ad modum tabardorum formatis, semper
cum suis incedere solebat; multum varietatem et dispari-
tatem Anglicorum in vestibus reprehendendo, asserens per
eas animarum inconstanciam et varietatem significari.
Capita neque barbas capellanorum ipsius non tetigit no-
vaculé, In divinis serviciis devotissimi erant isti Greci,
ea tam per milites quam per clericos, quia in eorum vulgari,
indifferenter cantando. Cogitavi intra me, quam esset
dolendum quod iste major et ulterior Christianus versus
orientem princeps, vi per infideles compulsus, ulteriores
occidentis insulas, pro subsidio contra eosdem, visitare
cogebatur. O Deus! Quid tu facis, Romana olim gloria ?
Tui imperii magnalia notorie sunt hodie scissa; unde tibi
poterit id Jeremie merito dici: “Princeps provinciarum
facta est sub tributo”?. Quis umquam crederet quod ad
tantam devenires miseriam, que, in solio majestatis residere
solens, toti mundo principabas, jam Christiane fidei nequa-
quam succursum prestare valendo ?

Rex cum imperatore aput Eltam suum tenuit Natale.

Dominus meus Cantuariensis misit abbatem Leycestrie
et me ad prioratum monialium de Nonetona, Lichfeldensis
dioceseos, ad inquirendum contra dominum Robertum Bow-
lond, super diversis criminibus, heresibus, et erroribus
ibidem per eum, ut diffamabatur, tanquam a colubro sub
sanctitatis simulate specie, nequiter perpetratis. Ubi et
quando invenimus unam monialem, ipsius Roberti extra-
ordinaria libidine, more sodomidico, per seminis lapsum, et
non per instrumenti ingressum, tam per confessionem ejus-
dem monialis quam literas dicti Roberti, quam eciam in-
spexione corporis impregnate, ante partum, per matronas
facta, fuisse impregnatam; et ex hoc filiam dicto Roberto
similem, in festo Sancte Petronille jam ultimo lapso *, pepe-

1 Lament. i. 1. 2 lapsum. MS.

A.D. 1400.

Miseria
Rome.

Bowlond.

f. 169 b.

Persodom-
iticum
seminis
lapsum

fit impreg-
nacio.

A.D. 1400.

A.D. 1401.

Lis super
armis de
Hast-

ynges.

Heredicus
crematur,

Pena

talionis.

58 CHRONICON

risse. Et hoc idem ipse Robertus in plena cleri convoca-
cione extitit confessus.

Rex, in octavis Sancti Hillarii, Londoniis, aput West-
monasterium, tenuit solempne parliamentum. Et dominus
meus Cantuariensis in ecclesia Sancti Pauli magnam cleri
convocacionem habuit.

Tempore istius parliamenti, dominus Grei de Ruthyn,
comitis [Pembrokie] et domini de Hastyng ab intestato
heres, admissus in curia militari Anglie, super armis de
Hastyng, scilicet manicam auream in campo rubio haben-
tibus, contra dominum Edwardum Hastyng, quia ea
integre portantem et se pro herede in ea parte gerentem,
litem movit sumptuosam; ob quam me de consilio re-
tinuit. Isti liti dominus Wyllylmus Bewchampe, dominus
de Berkeney, quia in illo dominio et in aliis, que dicti comitis
extiterant, ex dicti comitis dono, si sine herede ex corpore
suo procreato, de consensu regis factus, dimidium habens,
pro suo interesse cum dicto domino Grey viriliter assiste-
bat. Et nemirum, quia victoria dicti Edwardi utrumque
in toto duceret excludendum.

In convocacione, quidam dominus Wyllylmus Sawiri,
capellanus, de heresi convictus et condempnatus, domino
meo Cantuariensi statim, lata contra ipsum hujusmodi
sentencia, magno impetu dixit ista verba: “ Ego, missus
a Deo, dico tibi quod tu et totus clerus tuus et eciam rex
estis in brevi mala morte morituri; et extranea nacionis
lingua in regno superveniet regnatura. Et hoc est in
hostio proxime expectans.” Qui quidem sic dampnatus,
primo solempniter degradatus, postea in Smythfeld, Lon-
doniis, posti derecte stando catenatus ac dolio, ignitis
focalibus circumdatus, in cineres redactus existit.

Istius parliamenti tempore, in festo Carniprivii, quidam
Wyllylmus Clerk, scriptor Cantuariensis et oriundus in
comitatu Cestrie, militaris curie judicio dampnatus, primo
lingua quia in regem hee aliis imponendo verba maledicta
protulerat, secundo dextra manu qua illa scripserat priva-

ADZ DE USK 59

tus, tercio pena talionis, quia falsa proposita non probavit,
aput Turrim decapitatur.

Solempnes nuncii, ex parte ducis Bavarie, in imperatorem,
ut premittitur, noviter electi, pro regis nata sibi copulanda,
in Angliam advenerunt. Quibus ad partem dixi: “ Num-
quid rex Boemie electus est in possessione imperii? Unde
ista nova eleccio, prima non cassata?” Unus magnus
clericus ex eis mihi respondit : “ Quia inutilis fuit, et, quia
per papam nondum coronatus, electores in ea parte hoc
fecerunt.” Tune dixi, “Per capitulum: ‘ Venerabilem,’
extractum: ‘De eleccionibus’?, ad solum papam hoc per-
tinere dinoscitur, quia ipse imperium a Grecis transtulit
in Germanos.” Tune episcopus Herffordensis mihi silen-
cium induxit.

A quo clerico contra symoniam, de quibus gaudeo, hos
habui versus :—

“ Hec duo damna feres, si tu sis Symonis heres,

Mortuus ardebis, et vivus semper egebis.”

Sed ex quo tactum est superius de eleccione imperatoris,
et quot et quas coronas, et a quibus electus recipiet easdem,
et quid significant. Septem sunt electores, unde versus :—

“ Maguntinensis, Treverensis, Coloniensis,

Quilibet imperii fit cancellarius horum,

Et Palatinus dapifer, dux portitor ensis,

Marchio prepositus [camere], pincerna Boemus?:

Hii statuunt dominum cunctis, per secula summum.”’
Extractus: “De re judicata”; capitulum: “ Ad aposto-
lice”; in glossa penultima per Johannem Andream 3.

Primam coronam ferream, in signum fortitudinis, dabit
electo archiepiscopus Coloniensis ; secundam argenteam, in
signum puritatis, dabit Treverensis archiepiscopus ; terciam
auream, in signum excellencie, dabit Maguntinensis archi-

1 Decret. Greg. ix. lib. I. tit. vj. § 34.

® The words “‘ Palatinus,” “‘ dux,” ‘‘ Marchio,” and “ Boemus,” are
explained by interlinear glosses: “comes,” “Saxonie,” ‘ Branden-

bergiensis,” and “id est rex Boemie.”
5 Sext. Decret. lib. 11. tit. xiv. § ij.

A.D, 1401.

Versus.

Versus.

Tres co-
rone im-
peratoris.

A.D. 1401.

f. 170.

60 CHRONICON

episcopus, quam papa in confirmacione ipsius electi, pedibus,
capiti confirmati, et genuflectendo in signum humilitatis
et honorem sancte Romane ecclesie, cujus vassallus existit,
eam recipienti apponet.

Ordinatum fuit in isto parliamento, quod homines
marchie contra Wallenses sibi indebitatos vel eos ledentes,
habitis prius ad emendandum unius septimane induciis,
represaliis possent visitare.

Item, pro parte prelatorum fuit propositum quod, cum
ipsi tanquam barones ad parliamentum sunt vocati sic-
que temporalia sua a rege tenendo, quod non sit eorum
condicio deterior quam aliorum regni patronorum, quoad
beneficiorum collaciones. Plebei tamen insteterunt pro
provisione papali in relevamine universitatum et cleri.
Prelati promiserunt infra regnum per se de beneficiis clericis
virtuosis providere ipsorum mera et propria voluntate.

Novi unum monachum, in domo Cartusiensi prope
Londoniam, satis sanum et fortem, licet se voluntarie ab
omnimodo victualium usu per quindenam continue absti-
nentem. Unde prior domus, de cujus eram consilio, an, si
sic moreretur, ecclesiastica sepultura gaudere mereretur,
me consuluit.

In isto parliamento et convocacione, concesse erant regi,
a clero decima cum dimidia, et a populo quintadecima
omnium bonorum, cum duobus solidis ex quolibet vini
dolio, et, in aliis mercimoniis, ex singulis xx. solidis viij.
denariis, licet cum magno murmure et interna cleri et
populi malediccione.

Finitur istud parliamentum x. die mensis Marcii; quo
tamen die, modicum ante presens, audivi plurima aspera
contra Wallenses ordinanda agitari, scilicet, de non contra-
hendo matrimonium cum Anglicis, nec de adquirendo aut
inhabitando in Anglia, et alia plura gravia. Et, sicut
novit me Deus, nocte previa me excitavit a sompno vox,
ita auribus meis insonans: “Supra dorsum meum fabri-
caverunt,” etc.; “ Dominus justus,’ etc, ut in psalmo:

ADA DE USK 61

“ Sepe expugnaverunt ”'. Unde expergefactus, timens mihi
eo die aliquid infortunii contingere, me Spiritus Sancti
gubernacioni specialiter timidus commissi.

Sequitur annus Domini meccej.

Comes Warwyci, vir benignissimus, de quo supra, a
carceribus ereptus, in die Parasceves, quem maximis elemo-
sinis, penitenciis, ac aliis multimodis devocionibus colere
solebat, ab hac vita subtractus, pro transitoriis celestia
perhenniter commutavit, unicum filium suum sibi relin-
quendo heredem ; cui rex, veniam bienalis etatis largiendo,
hereditatem liberavit paternam.

Wyllylmus ap Tedur et Reys ap Tedur, fratres, naturales
de insula de Anglesey alias Mona, quia graciam regiam de
dicti Owenii insurrexione optenere non valentes, eodem
die Parasceves, castrum de Conwey, armis, victualibus
tutissime instructum, duobus ejus janitoribus subtilitate
cujusdam carpentarii, ad opus suum solitum se venire asse-
rentis, interfectis, cum aliis quadraginta ingressi, occuparunt
pro tutamine. Sed statim per principem et patriam obessi,
xxviij. die mensis Maii tunc sequenti, idem castrum, vecor-
diter quoad se, et proditorie quoad socios, quia novem
eorundem magis dicto principi exosos, post vigilias noctur-
nas dormitantes, per ipsos dolose a tergo ligatos, sub
condicione sui et aliorum vitas servandi, reddiderunt.
Quos ix., sie ligatos et principi redditos, primo trahi, postea
eviscerari, suspendi, decollari et quatripartiri ad statim
viderunt.

Isto eodem tempore, quidam ville de Usk burgenses, clam
ecclesiam de Usk, instante servicio Passionis Dominice,
exeuntes, castrum ibidem fraudelenter intrantes, quendam
Johannem fiz Pers, nuper ibi senescallum, mortalibus
penis, de adulterio cum domina quadam quia diffamatum ?,

1 Ps. cxxviij.

2 “quia diffamatum” is written over an erasure, the name of the

lady being probably suppressed. There are other alterations in the
sentence.

A.D, 1401,

Anno
Domini
meccej®
intrante.
Mors
comitis
Warwye.

Castrum
de Con-
wey.

fiz Pers.

A.D. 1401.

A.D. 1402.

Destruccio
Jerusa-
lem.

A.D. 1401.

Resisten-
cia pan-
nariorum
et aliorum
merca-
torum.

f. 170 b.

Uxores
Bristollie.

62 CHRONICON

per fratrem suum naturalem tantum, dominum Edwardum
Charleton, mirabiliter dampnatum, nudum, in penis hujus-
modi manicipatum, a vinculis per ipsos, fractis carceribus,
absolutum, domino de Berkeveny in ipsius castro ibidem
ad magnas eorundem grates, licet postea, hac de causa,
propter seduccionem } per regem exulatum, apud Bergeveny
predictam reddiderunt.

Hiis diebus, filius et heres regis Persarum Aremirandine,
Turcorum Babylonie soldanum, magnum timorem Christia-
nitati incucientem ut ipsius fidem pervertere jactantem,
in centum mille bellicosos Christianos, et presertim Hunga-
ros, invadere solitum, in campestri bello per se devictum
obtinuit ; Jerusalemque funditus destruxit, et partes illas
in magna pompa occupavit. Unde Christianorum pere-
grinacio ad illas partes jam extitit impedita.

Kalendis Maii, apud Phillipis Norton, pannorum merca-
tores quendam regis domicellum, literas regias secum defer-
entem, censum, vectigal, sive tributum contra promissum
regis in ingressu suo felici eis remissum, exigere, pro hujus-
modi pannorum vendicione, nitentem, in medio foro truci-
dabant. Unde, quia regis justiciariis, licet regni proceribus,
hujusmodi excessum punire, propter pagensium recisten-
ciam, non valentibus, rex, in propria persona pagum
visitando, dictum excessum aliqualiter reformavit, licet
modica coreccione.

Alius hujusmodi exactor apud Dertmouth in comitatu
Devonie, per vulgus invasus, vix mare per unam naviculam
captatam apprehendit.

Bristolie uxores, maritos inde exonerando, hujusmodi
exactoribus hujusmodi repulsam, aliquando et vulneribus
intermixtis, dederunt.

Dominus insularum Orcadum Ultoniam in Hibernea, ad
magnum dampnum domini mei de Marchia, jam in custodia
regis existentis, ipsius comitis duxit hostiliter invadendam.

1 produccionem. MS.

ADA DE USK 63

In festo Ascencionis Domini, in hoc anno, subditi de
Berkeveny contra ecorum dominum, Wyllelmum Bewchampe,
insurrexerunt; et tres viros propter furtum morti dam-
pnatos, et eodem die, scilicet juxta voluptatem secunde
Jesabel, loci domine, festivitati aut tempori non reverendo,
suspendendos, juxta furcas liberantes, dominum Wyllelmum
Lucy, militem, ad mortis execucionem eorundem deputatum,
sagittis suffocarunt.

In vigilia Apostolorum Petri et Pauli, Isbella, regis
Francie filia, Anglie regina, regis Ricardi olim Anglie uxor,
licet inutilis, quia nondum undecim annorum, a Londoniis
versus patrem, pluribus tractatibus intermediis ad hoc
habitis, recessit nigris induta, regi Henrico multum de-
pressum et malevolum in recessu, vix os apperiens, exhi-
bendo vultum. De cujus recessu, quem vidi, vulgus
tumultuabat, potestas frendebat, quibusdam adventui ejus
ad regnum, quia ipsius totam turbacionem causanti, male-
dicentibus, quibusdam aliis quod, post ejus recessum, ob
dicti regis Ricardi mortem, olim ipsius mariti, majorem
causaret vindicte fomite inferri molestiam asserentibus
procurari per eandem.

Isto anno Domini millesimo cccci™, in festo Com-
memoracionis Sancti Pauli, quidam regalis armorum de
Scotis descriptor, Anglice herode vocatus, propter obloquia
sua de rege Henrico in regno Francie habita, suis insigniis
primo spoliatus, facie versa ad caudam equi, per Londoniam
equitaturus et demum lingua privandus curie militaris
judicio adjudicatus extitit. Rex tamen eundem, cum literis
ex causa ipsius herawd ignominiosa missivis, ad dominum
suum regem Scocie, cum ipsius causa scripta, graciose
preter dictum remisit equitatum.

Eodem die, lis magna in dicta curia inter dominum de
Grey de Ruthyn, pro quo in ea parte [eram], et dominum
Edwardum Hastyng, propter arma rubeii campi cum manica
aurea, de quibus supra, que olim erant dominorum de Berke-
veny; et inter dominum Johannem Colvyll de Dale, contra

A.D, 1401.

Insurrec-
cio de
Berke-
veny.

Recessus
regine.

Herowd
Scocie.

Lis
armorum.

64, CHRONICON

A.D, 1401, quem tune advocavi, et dominum Walterum Byttervey,

Oweyn.

Comes
Peragi.

Hibernia.

f. 171.

de comitatu Salopii, milites, propter arma de auro et una
fees et tribus tortellis de rubio in capite, interdicto utrobi
judicio scilicet posessorio, agentes quam tumultuose, habe-
batur.

Tota illa estate, Oweyn Klyndor, cum pluribus Wallie
proceribus, regni exules et regis proditores habiti, in mon-
tanis et silvestribus delitentes, aliquando depredando, ali-
quando insidias et insultus eis inferentes interficiendo,
partes West-Walie et North-Walie non modice infestarunt,
ac dominum de Grey captivarunt?.

Gallici magnam partem Vasconie, Anglie adherentis, sibi-
met, et presertim totum comitatum de Perago, civitatem
scilicet ipsam cum xxx. castris et omnibus terris ipsius
comitis, hostiliter ad eorum usum occuparunt. Ipsum
comitem ad dominum regem de premissis vidi, die predicto,
accedere ? relaturum.

Tune eciam vidi Hibernie nobiliores contra mercenario-
rum Hibernicorum ferocitatem penes regem multum quere-
lantes.

Tytmannus, Wigorniensis episcopus, vj. die mensis Junii,
olim de Haylys monachus, cujus consilio retentus fueram,
quem rex Ricardus, a suo monasterio expulsum propter
medicandi et incantandi artes, primo in Landavensem,
secundo in Wygornensem erexerat, diem suum clausit
extremum. Unde rex scripsit pape pro magistro Ricardo
Clefford, ipsius privati sigilli custode, quod, mutata ecclesie
Wellensis provisione, eidem Ricardo, nondum tamen propter
regis recistenciam sacrato, facta, de Wigorniensi, ac magi-
stro Henrico Bowet, legum doctori, cum quo retentus fueram,
de Wellensi, jam per annum et dimidium propter dictam
resistenciam vacante, ecclesiis dignaretur providere.

Dicto Comemoracionis festo, dominus Georgius, comes de

1 A note is added in the margin: ‘“ Dominus de Grey per O. ca-
ptivatur et pro xvj millibus libris redimitur.”
2 accedereque. MS.

AD DE USK 65

Donbar in Scocia, homo legeus regis Anglie devenit, sibi
omnia possessiones et castra sua in regno Scocie habita red-
dendo ; tamen dicebatur quod Scoti, factum suum hujusmodi
precaptantes, eadem ad usum regis Scocie occupabant, sic
quod hujus devencio et redditus modicum, ymmo minime,
regi Anglie videbantur proficere.

Hujusmodi literam tempori convenientem ecce regi
Henrico transmissam ?: “ Illustrissime princeps et [serenis-
sime]| domine, dignetur vestra celsitudo solito benignissima,
me vestre sublimitatis servulum, vere totum et integrum
dolore nunc plenum, vestris pedibus provolutum graciose
habere recomendatum. Et quia vestra unica? serenitas
mihi, vestro servulo minimo, in ultimo recessu [meo] a
vobis corde tristissimo, demandavit quod, si qua [sinistra]
audirem*, vestre excellencie [ea] significarem indilate, ut
servulus vester obedientissimus, pennam sumpsi in manibus
que audieram et videram ostensurus. Sane, illustrissime

A.D, 1401.

Litera regi
directa.

princeps, ut testatur sapiens Solomon in Proverbiis Spiritus —

Sancti: ‘ Meliora sunt vulnera diligentis quam fraudulenta
oscula blandientis’*, ideo, ut verus vester et regni vestri
dilector, atque pro viribus Dei et vestri fidelis servitor, ‘elegi
[magis] abjectus esse in domo Dei [mei]’® pro veritate,
cum psalmista®, quam regalibus interesse deliciis et ferre
osculum adulacionis in ore, cum Juda proditore. Igitur,
totus in lacrimas resolutus, corde vulneribus lacerato pre
dolore, assero cum propheta, quod ‘qui beatum te dicunt

1 This letter, addressed by Philip Repyngdon, abbot of St. Mary
de Pré, Leicester, to Henry the Fourth, is printed in the Correspondence
of Thomas Bekynton, ed. Williams (Rolls Series), i. 151. A copy is
also found in Stow MS. 67, in the British Museum, added to a brief
chronicle of English history, which ends in the reign of Henry IV,
and having the title: ‘Anno regni regis istius secundo scripsit ad
eum venerabilis doctor in theologia, magister Philippus abbas Leices-
trie, qui postea Lyncolniensis episcopus fuit effectus.” Adam’s text,
which is faulty, has been amended by collation with these two copies,
words which are supplied from them being printed within brackets.

* uncta. MS. 5 audiveram, MS,

* Prov. xxvij. 6. © Pe. ixxxnj. il. ° baptista. MS.

F

A.D. 1401 °

66 CHRONICON

ipsi te decipiunt et semitas gressuum tuorum dissipant’).
Unde tantam desolacionem in cordibus prudencium, pre?
confucione et turbacione quam timent infra breve in isto
regno evenire,a tempore juventutis mee non memini me
audisse. Quia lex et justicia sunt exules a regno; habun-
dant furta, homicidia, adulteria, fornicaciones, [extortiones,
ac] pauperum oppressiones, injurie, injusticie, et diverse
contimelie; et nunc pro lege sufficit tirannica voluntas.
Et ideo certus sum quod, si evangelium [Christi] sit verum,
asserens quod ‘omne regnum in se ipsum divisum deso-
labitur’*, et si dicta sapientis non sunt insana, affirmantis
quod ‘regnum de gente in gentem transferetur propter
injusticias, injurias, contumelias, et diversos dolos’ 4, si,
inquam, omnia ista in regno superhabundent sine freno,
nec sit aliquis potens in regno, fidelis Christi procurator,
in elero vel in milicia, qui hiis et aliis innumerabilibus
Dei nostri offensis et contemptibus obviet vel succurrat,
dico, cum fideli propheta, quod Dominus ‘ Deus fortis et
paciens © irascitur per singulos dies, et, nisi conversi fueritis,
gladium suum vibrabit ; archum suum tetendit et paravit
illum, et in eo paravit vasa mortis, sagittas suas ardentibus
effecit’ ®, ut, post tam manifesta Dei miracula et ejus stu-

penda gratissima beneficia in effectu et opere contempta

vel neglecta, celerem et quasi furore plenam inferet’ vindic-
tam in ejus ingratos servos et manifestos contemptores.
Nos autem sperabamus quod vester miraculosus ingressus
in regnum Anglie, non dubito quin manu Dei peractus ®,
fuisset_ redempturus Israel, et omnium peccatorum et malo-
rum contemptuum reos reformaturus °, ‘ad vindictam male-
factorum, laudem vero bonorum’?!°, Nunc vero flent discreti
et rident discoli; vidue, pupilli, et orphani stringunt nunc

1 Isai. iij. 12. 2 pro. MS. 5 Luc. xj. 17.
* Ecclest. x. 8. 5 potens. MS. ® Ps, vij. 12—14.
7 infert. MS. § non factus. MS.

® id est omnium pretactorum malorum et Dei contemptum ref. MS.
0 I Pet. ij. 14.

ADZ DE USK 67

manus, fluunt lacrime per maxillas, qui jam tarde, in vestro
ingressu in regnum Anglie, erant omnes’ plaudentes mani-
bus et Deum voce uhanimi collaudantes, cum filiis Israel in
die Palmarum obviam Christo procedentes, [et] in célum ¢la-
mantes, et de vobis, sieut de altero Christo, iii regem uncto,
concinentes: ‘ Benedictus qui [venit] in nomine Domini,
rex noster Anglie’*, in spe felicis regiminis hujus regni.
Nuneé vero ‘versa est in luctum cithera nostra’ %, [et]
gaudium [nostrum] transit in merorem, dum omnia mala
multiplicantur, et spes remedii a cordibus hominum recessit
[lacrimabiliter] cum dolore*. Ideo, in justam penam et
vindictam negligencie et ommissionis gubernatorum populi,
Deus judex justus ° permittit plebeos, tanquam feras bestias,
irregulariter et irracionabiliter judicare, et regimen superi-
orum innaturaliter presumere, et erga superiores, equales,
et inferiores, sine discressionis libramine, bestialiter de-
sevire. Et revera, nisi fallor, [licet] super rebelione populi
indignetur vestra regalis dignitas, et ad tantum irritetur
vestra strenuitas et militaris ferositas ®, ut eciam in una
plaga regni vestri, quod absit, trucidentur in ore gladii
viginti milia vestrorum legiorum, et exinde sacietur licto-
rum crudelitas, qui in vestro ingressu [in regnum Anglie]

Deo et populo” spopondistis, omnes et singulos regni vestri’

incolas, pauperes et divites, majores et minores, defendere
ab adversis. Non eo magis cessabit murmur populi nec
indignacio Dei nostri® irati; sed magis incitabitur in
furorem, et magis ac magis, captata oportunitate, deseviet
in vindictam; donee, servata lege [et legali] regni vestri
justicia, remotis et extinctis injuriis, injusticiis, et populi
oppressionibus supradictis, per rectam regulam legis justicie,

2 omnes gentes. MS. 2 Matt. xxj. 9.

8 Job, xxx. 31, * merore. MS. 5 ef justus. MS.

®° The text in Bekynton’s correspondence has: “et revera, nisi
fallar valde super rebellione populi, si non dedignetur vestra regalis
dignitas, et ad tantum irritetur vestra sublimitas, timeo ne militaris
accendatur ferocitas.”

7 Dei populum. MS. 8 vestri. MS,

F 2

A.D. 1401.

£.171 b.

A.D, 1401.

68 CHRONICON

reddatur unicuique quod suum est, ut sic primo inter Deum
et hominem pax reformetur, et sic deinde inter hominem
et proximum suum veraciter et non ficte derivetur. ‘Quis
enim restitit ei et pacem habuit?’1 Quia [enim] peccata?
vestra et ‘iniquitates vestre diviserunt inter vos et Deum
vestrum et absconderunt faciem ejus a vobis’ %, ideo, digno
Dei judicio, qui ‘ sine lege peccaverunt, sine lege peribunt’ ¢,
et qui legem contempnunt, redarguti a lege, secundum
legem judicabuntur. Et, secundum beatum Jacopum, ‘non
auditores sed factores legis justificabuntur’ °, et e contrario
contemptores confundentur, sicut [infra] biennium in rege
Ricardo, tanquam in speculo stupendo, vidimus exempla-
tum °, universo orbi et omnibus seculis supervenientibus
indelebiliter et indefectibiliter memorandum. Auferat
ergo Deus meus, sol justicie, velamen ab oculis vestris,
ut clare intueamini oculis mentis vestre quid in vestro
ingressu felici in regnum Anglie Deo fideli [et] inoblivioso
promisistis publice et privatim, et, insuper, quid justicie
et quid obsequii Deo grato et gracioso et regno Anglie
pro omnibus beneficiis retribuistis. Et, si quid minus
injusto libramine inveneritis, celeriter, pre timore vindicte,
retribuere satagatis; et, si quid justum inveneritis, reddite
gracias Domino, bonorum omnium largitori et unicuique
secundum merita [sua] justissimo’ redditori; et benedicta
sancta Trinitas, [in] cujus manu corda sunt regum et omnia
gubernacula regnorum, det vobis cor docile et tractabile
et ad omne bonum ductile ad peragendum fideliter in-
junctum ® vobis officium regie dignitatis, et ad intelligendum
memoriter et efficaciter [et] ad remediandum miserias
populorum ; adaperiatque Dominus cor vestrum in lege
sua et in preceptis suis, et faciat pacem in regno Anglie
per dies sempiternos. Scriptum, si vestre placeat domi-

1 Job, ix. 4. 2 pacta. MS, 5 Tsai. lix. 2.
* Rom. ij. 12. 5 Jas. i. 22; Rom. ij. 138.
* exempla tamen. MS. 7 institissimo. MS.

8 inminutum. MS.

ADA DE USK 69

nacioni, corde tremulo, amore languido, Londoniis, die A.D. 1401.
Mercurii in crastino Invencionis Sancte Crucis, manu
propria vestri soliti precatoris. Serenissime princeps, hec,
in sentencia liberando animam meam, ut verus Dei cultor,
et boni regiminis vestri zelator, reique publice et regni
vestri fidelis amator et orator, vive vocis oraculo locutus
sum vobis, apud vos manens; et nunc, si placeat, hec
scribo vobis, eodem accensus desiderio et amore, et amoris
langore, ‘ priusquam fiant, ut?, cum factum fuerit, credatis,’
et ‘ut, cum venerit hora eorum, reminiscamini quia ego
dixi vobis: Cum autem venerit ille spiritus veritatis,
docebit vos omnem veritatem, et que ventura sunt annunci-
abit vobis’*. Ecce, ‘ vir desideriorum’ *, amore langueo ” ¢.

Item, xxviij. die mensis Julii, anno Domini millesimo
cece. primo, regina Anglie predicta, adhuc pupilla, Calicias
transfretavit, et ibidem, usque ad primam diem Augustii
proxime sequentem, pendente tractatu inter nostrates
Anglie et consiliarios regis Francie, morabatur ; quo die
primo, cum suis jocalibus et dotaliciis, patri suo regi
Francie transmittenda, honorifice recipiebatur per Franci-
genas, omnibus Anglicis utriusque sexus omnia ad propria
remissis.

Ista estate, classes Anglie et Francie se multum in mari
mutuo infestabant.

Item, in crastino Assumpcionis Beate Virginis anni
predicti, dominus rex Henricus, cum suis proceribus ab
omni parte regni ad hoc vocatis, in magno consilio et
solempni apud Westmonasterium celebrato, adversarios
suos Francie et Scocie per eum fore militariter invadendos
decrevit.

Item, isto autumpno, Oweynus de Glendor, cum tota
Northewalia, Cardikan, et Poysia sibi adherentibus, Anglicos

1 id. MS, 2 Joh. xiv. 29; xvj. 4, 18. 5 Dan. ix. 28.

* languido. MS. The copy in the Stow MS. has these additional
words: “ Vestre, si placeat, celsitudinis indignus servulus, Philippus,
predicator vester assiduus.”

A.D, 1401.

Monaster-
ium de

Stratfleyr
stabulum
equorum.

f. 172.

Li. ap. Gr.
Vagan.

Rex in
Wallia.

Mors
domini
Poysye.

70 CHRONICON

in illis partibus habitantes, cum: eorum villis et presertim
villa de Pola, ferro et flamma multum infestabat. Unde
Anglici, in multitudine glomerosa illas partes invadendo,
totaliter depopulatas et depredatas ferro, fame, et flamma,
eciam pueris et ecclesiis non parcendo, et monasterium de
Stratflur, in quo rexmet hospitabatur, et ejus ecclesia et
choro eciam usque ad summum altare pro stabulo utendo,
ipsasque pateras penitus spoliando, et ultra mille utriusque
sexus pueros secum in Angliam vehendo ipsorum serviciis
mancipandos, desolatas reliquerunt easdem. Dictus tamen
Oenus non modicum Anglicis: nocuit, plures eorum interi-
mendo, arma, equos, et tentoria primogeniti regis et principis
Walie ac aliorum dominorum hostiliter auferendo, et eadem
pro usu ad montana sua et tutamina de Snowdon seeum
transferendo.

Hiis diebus, australis Wallia, et presertim tota Landa-
vensis diocesis, ab omnimoda invasionis sive defensionis
molestia satis stetit pacifica.

Inter trucidatos per Anglicorum ingressum predictum,
Ll. ap Greffit Vazan, de Cayo in comitatu de Cardikan, vir
multum nobilis et dapsilis, sexdecem dolia vini in familia
sua omni anno expendens, quia dicto Oeno confavens, in
festo Sancti Dionysii, apud Lanamthryvry, in presencia
regis et de ejus mandato, cum filio suo primogenito, trahitur,
suspenditur, decollatur, et quatripartitur.

Hoe tempore, circa festum Sancti Michaelis, quarterium
frumenti a nobili ad duo nobilia, et in quibusdam partibus
Anglie ad tria, ad annonam subito mutatur cariorem.

Ubique in Walia, per muros et fossata renovantur tuta-
Moritur nobilis dominus, dominus Johannes Charleton,
dominus Poysie, apud castrum suum de Pola, in festo Sancti
Luce; cui dominus Edwardus, frater suus, juvenis elegan-
tissimus, de Usk et de Kaerlyon, in jure dotalicio uxoris
sue, comitisse Marchie, tunc dominus, jure successit here-
ditario.

ADH DE USK 71

Dominus Thomas, regis secundogenitus, in Hiberniam,
ad Hibernicorum domandam rebellionem, cum magno
transiit exercitu. Sic eciam et comes Rutlondie, ad re-
sistendum Gallicorum invasionibus, transiit in Vasconiam.

Scoti, cum Anglicis pacem aut treugam tractare detes-
tantes, diffidenciam et guerram Anglicis decreverant in
festo Sancti Martini fore inducendas.

Plebei de Cardikan, ad vite perdonacionem recepti, Oeno
dimisso, licet cum magna miseria, redierunt ad propria,
lingua Walicana uti permissi, licet ejus destruccio per
Anglos decreta fuisset, omnipotente Deo, rege regum, infalli-
bili omnium judice, hujusmodi decretum ad gravatorum
appellacionem et querelam misericorditer revocante.

In crastino Omnium Sanctorum, Oenus, volens obsidi-
onem ponere circa Caernarvon, in multitudine glomerosa
vixillum suum album cum dracone aureo ibidem displi-
cuit; tamen per intraneos aggressus, trecentis* de suis
interemptis, in fugam pulsus est.

Isto tempore, pro maritagio filiarum suarum, dominus
rex totum regnum colectavit.

Domini de Percy, pater et filius, Secotorum rebellionem
strenue domarunt, ipsos in magno numero interimendo et
captivando.

Oenus cum suis dominium de Rethyn in North-Wallia

et ejus pagum, penultimo die Januarii, ferro et flamma.

crudeliter infestavit, predas patrie, et presertim pecudum,
ad montana de Snowdon secum deferendo; tamen dominiis
comitis Marchie de Dynby et aliis multum parcebat, duos
comitatus scilicit de Kaernarven et Murionnit sibi inclinatos,
quoad jurisdiccionem et guerram, ad votum habendo.
Quidam miles, vocatus Davit ap Jevan Goz, de comitatu
de Cardigan, qui per viginti annos continue cum rege
Cypry et aliis Cristianis Sarazenos debellaverat, per regem
Francie ad regem Scocie pro Oeno directus, per nautas
Anglie tentus, carceribus Turris Londoniensis mancipatur.
* glomerosum. MS. ? trecentum. MS.

A.D. 1401.

Decretum
destruc-
cionis
lingue
Wallice.

A.D. 1402,

A.D: 1401:

Litere ad
regem
Scocie.

72 CHRONICON

Nuncii Oeni cum literis infrascripti tenoris, regi Scocie et
dominis Hibernie directis, in Hibernia capti decapitantur :
“‘Treshaut et trespuisant et tresredoute seigneur et cosin,
je me recomande a vostre treshautisme roial mageste si
humblement come suy dygne en toutz maneres des honors
et reverencez. Et, tresredoute seigneur et tressovereygn
cosin, pleser seyt a vous et a vostre dit treshautisme
mageste dasavoyr que Brutus, vostre tresnoble auncestre
et le meyn, estoyt le primer roy corone qui primerment
enhabita deinz cest realme dengleterre, qui jadis fuist
nomme Brataygne graunt. Le quel Brutus engendera troi
fitz, cest assavoir, Albanactus Locrius, et Loctrinus et
Kamber. De quel dit Albanactus vous estez descenduz
par droit lyne. De quel dit Kamber les issuez ount reygnes

roialment, tanque a Kadualadir, qui estoit le darrein roy

coronne de ma dit nacioun, dount je, vostre simple cosin,
suy descenduz par droit lyne. Apres que decesse mes

auncestres et tout ma dit nacion avons este et ore sumes

‘en oppression et bondage desouz mes et vostres morteles

f. 172 b.

enimys Sacsouns, come vous, tresredoute seigneur et tres-
sovereygn cosin, ent avez bone conisance. Des quex
oppressions et bondages le prophecie dit que je serray

delivere par eid et socour de vostre dit roial mageste. Mais,

tresredoute seigneur et sovereigne cosin, je me grauntement
complaigne a vostres ditz roall mageste et tressovereigne

cosinage, que moi defaut graundment genz dez armez; pur.

quoy, tresredoute seigneur et tressovereygne cosin, je vous

supplie humblement en mez genoils engenuler, si pleiser

soit a dit vostre roial mageste, de moy maunder certeyn

nombre de gentz darmez de moy eidir et resistre, en laide de.

Dieux, mes et vostres ennmys susditz ; eiant consideracion,
tresredoute seigneur et tressovereigne cosin, a le eschatisme
de meschyf et meschifs que je et mes ditz auncestres de
Gales susditz avons suffres et meyntes autres passez par mez
et vostres mortuels enimys susditz. Entendant, tresredoute
seigneur et tressovereigne cosin, que ensi soit que je serray

ADH DE USK 73

jour de ma vie oblige de fayr service et plesance a vostre
dit roial mageste et amender a vous. Et pour ceo que je
ne puis vous envoir touz mez bussoignes en escript, vous
envoir lez portours de cestez de toutz mez bussoygnes
pleinement enformez, as quex vous pleaise doner foy et
eredens de ceo quils vous durront par bouche. De par moy.
Tresredoute seigneur et tressovereygn cosin, le trespuisant
Seigneur vous [garde].”

* Salutem et amoris plenitudinem, domine reverendissime
et consanguinee confidentissime. Sciatis quod maxima dis-
sencio, sive guerra, orta est inter nos et nostros vestrosque
mortales inimicos, Saxones. Quam guerram viriliter susten-
tamus hucusque, fere per duos annos elapsos, ac eciam de
cetero intendimus et speramus sustentare et ad bonum et
effectualem finem perducere, mediantibus gracia Dei, Salva-
toris nostri, vestrisque auxilio atque favore. Sed, quia
vulgariter dicitur per propheciam quod, antequam nos
altiorem manum in hac parte haberemus, quod vos [et]
vestri carissimi consanguinei in Hibernea ad hoc manus
porrigetis adjutrices ; quocirea, reverende domine et consan-
guinee confidentissime, vos corditer et affectuose requirimus
quatinus, de equestribus et peditibus vestris armatis, ad
succurrendum nobis et nacioni nostre, a diu per inimicos
nostros ac vestros predictos oppressis, necnon ad resi-
stendum voluntati fraudabili et deceptabili eorundem ini-
micorum nostrorum, talem numerum qualem commode et
honeste poteritis, salvo in omnibus vestro honorabili statu,
nobis, tam cito quam bene videbitis expedire, necessitatem
nostram considerando, transmittatis. Istud amore nostro,
et sicut in vobis maxime confidamus, licet incogniti vestre
reverende persone fuerimus, facere non tardatis, intelli-
gentes, domine et consanguinee reverendissime, quod quam-
diu nos valebimus istam guerram fortiter sustentare in
partibus nostris, quod vobis satis constat sine dubio quod
vos et omnes alii magnates de partibus vestris Hibernie
pacem desiderabilem et tranquilitatem placabilem medio

A.D. 1401.

Litere ad
dominos
Hibernie.

A.D. 1401.

A.D. 1402,

f, 173.

74 CHRONICON

tempore impetrabitis. Et quia, domine consanguinee, latores
presencium vos! plenius viva? voce informabunt, eis*, si
placet, credenciam adhibeatis in omnibus que vobis ex parte
nostra ‘* dicent, et, qua volueritis, domine et consanguinee
reverende, que per nos vestrum humilem consanguineum
fieri poterunt, vos mandetis cum fiducia. Domine et con-
sanguinee reverende, vestram reverenciam et dominacionem
in prosperis Altissimus conservet longevam. Scriptum apud
Northwalliam, penultimo die Novembris.”

Jam, Deus, qui me studium Oxonie et ipsius doctoratus
regimen trienale, et demum in curia Cantuariensi septenale
advocacionis officium, tam honorem quam utilitatem, ex
tue infinitate gracie concessisti perficere, ac in aliis meis
agendis quibuscumque a juventute mea me adjuvisti, usque
ad senectam et senium, me ne derilinquas; et fac mecum
signum in bonum, ut videant qui me aderunt et confun-
dantur, “quoniam tu, Domine, adjuvisti me et consolatus
es me” 5, Meumque jam, Deo disponente, directum Romam
aggressum, cum ibidem progressu necnon ad partes votivas
regressu, sive advocatorum sive auditorum numero aggre-
gandum, ad tui nominis honorem et laudem, et mei utriusque
hominis sospitatem, et cum honore triplici temporalibusque
auxiliis, da misericorditer consolari.

Quid mora? xj. kalendas Marcii, anno Domini m™cece™.,
presencium compilator, ut, Deo disponente, proposuit, Lon-
doniis apud Byllyngesgate navem ingressus, prospero flante
vento et mari sulcato, in Brabancia terra satis votiva, apud
Berwk-super-sabulum, suos gressus versus Romam diri-
gendo, infra diem naturalem terre applicuit. Et extune per
Dyst, Mestryk, Aquas Grani, Coloniam, Bunnam, Confluen-
ciam, Wormeciam, Spiram, Argentinam, Brisacam, Basiliam,
Luceriem et ejus mirabilem lacum, Bernam, montem Godardi
et ejus cacuminis hermitogium, in caruca per bovem tractus,
nivis frigoribus quasi peremptus, oculis velatis, ne loci

1 qui vos. MS. 2 una. MS.
3 qui. MS. * vestra. MS. © Ps, bexxv. 17.

ADH DE USK 75

discrimina conspiceret, ad Belsonam in Lumbardia Pal- A.D. 1402.
marum devenit vigilia. Et inde, per Cumam, Mediolanum,
Plesanciam, Burgum Sancti Dionisii, Carenciam, Pontem-
tremulum, Petrum Sanctam, Pisas, Senas, et Viterbium,
Bolonie, Florencie et Perisii, propter frementes ducis Medio-
lani, de quo infra, guerras ac obsidiones et earum diseri-
mina, declinando vias, in omni notabili hospicio, ad sui
suorumque et presertim equorum refocillacionem, per duos
dies repausando, nonis Aprilis, Dei favore arcuumque ter-
rore, Romam per omnia devenit salvus. Ac, infra quin-
denam extune, per dominum Balthasarum, tituli sancti
Kustacii diaconum cardinalem, postea papam Joannem xxiij.,
domino Bonifacio pape nono cum sui commendacione pre-
sentatus, et per eum honorifice ad pedis et manus et faucis
oscula receptus, et demum pro rigore sciencie sue examinis
cardinali Bononiensi, postea pape Innocentio septimo, per
eum commissus et approbatus, infra quindenam in pape
capellanum, palaciique apostolici auditorem, urbisque et
orbis judicem, cum hujusmodi prerogative insigniis, capa
scilicet, rochetto et capello, per ipsum papam insignitus,
ipsius et rote consiliis exstitit sublimatus. Cui et papa
infra octo dies extune triginta magnas causas commisit ad
sui audienciam delatas, ipsius industria terminandas.

In dicto transitu, primo apud Coloniam et continue usque
ad Pisas predictas, tam de nocte quam eciam de die, solem
precedentem cometam terribilem, solis scilicet cleri et lune Stella.
scilicet milicie mundi terrorem, ipsius ducis cito post
defuncti mortis prefiguracionem, conspexi. Cujus arma
terribilia, quia serpentem blavium hominem rubium et
nudum in campo albo devorantem, eciam in aere sepius
fuerant tune visa.

Dux Baverie in imperatorem eligitur et Ytaliam, Romam re
pro coronacione anelans, ingreditur. Sed apud Padwam a
per dictum ducem repulsam passus, frustrato negocio, ad
partes rediit confusus.

Dux iste, subjugata per eum Bononia, mundi delicia et A.D. 1402.

A.D, 1402.

Mors ducis
Mediolani.

76 CHRONICON

Ytalie gloria, et ante cujus conspectum quasi siluit terra},
qui et magnum fluvium Powe per medium montium et
multa miliaria abducens, ad modum Ciri magni a Babilone
Efraten evertentis, Padwamque lucratus, subita peste ad
magnum peregrinorum dolorem succubuit, quia, in virga
ferrea terras suas regendo, tutum viantibus prestabat trans-
itum per easdem, et certe credebatur quod, si per annum
diucius vixisset, quod Almanie et Ytalie in solidum impe-
rasset. In cujuslibet Europe principum familiis, pro novis
sibi explanandis, suis magnis expensis, eciam ipsos principes
magnis muneribus sibi alliciendo, votivos exploratores
habuit. Sed ecce! juxta illud vulgare: “In male quesitis
vix gaudebit tercius,” ejus avunculus, archiepiscopus Medio-
lanensis, vir magnanimus et imperii vicarius, in imperatoris
castris suos nepotes, dominum Galias, istius ducis patrem,
et dominum Bornabo, ipsius patruum, capitaneos, mortis sue
tempore, dimittendo, eis elacionem et mutuam infestacionem
imperii jura subtrahendo, in persona istius tercii dedit male
quesita eradicari. :

Mediolanensi duce predicto defuncto, Bavarie dux, in im-
peratorem electus, ad papam pro confirmacione solempnes
transmisit nuncios ; quam obtinuit, ut infra.

Bononia, Perisium, et alie ecclesie terre duci defuncto
commendate rebellant; sed dicti cardinalis Sancti Eustacii
ad subjeccionem reducuntur industria.

Per totam Lumbardiam et Tuscaniam pacis et concordie
dissolvuntur federa; et, Gwelforum et Gyblynorum par-,
cialitate, ferro et flamma vibrantur disturbia.

Undecimo kalendas Januarii, indulgenciarum, unionum,
excepcionum, pluralitatum, et aliorum curiam defamancium,
me presente, revocantur, ymmo verius renovantur, excessus ;

. quia heu! revocatorum novum forum reconciliacionum

invaluit. In vim dicte unionis revocacionum, presencium
compilatori archidiaconatum Bogomham cum eclesiis de

1 1 Mac. j. 3.

ADZ DE USK 77

Knle, Tysbury, et Deverell in Anglia, sed, guerra Wallie
hoc impediente, archidiaconatus Landavensem et de Ker-
merdyn, cum ecclesia de Landevaelauc cum prebenda de
Lanbistre, papa sibi contulit in Wallia.

Anno Domini m™°cccc™*ij°, Ladislaus, rex Neapolis, re-
gnum Ungarie jure hereditario pro se petens, manu id in-
travit forti, sed, sola Sclavonia subjugata, per Sysmundum,
Anne regine Anglie fratrem, regno incumbentem, postea
imperatorem, viriliter repulsus, in Italiam cum rubore est
reversus.

O Deus!, quam dolenter jam ecclesia duobus, et imperium
tribus, presidentibus mutuis se infestant et devastant cladi-
bus. Et presertim Grecorum,ex genere Constantini magni,
Brutonum regis, et Sancte Elene filii radicatum, imperium,
per ipsum a Romanis in Grecos et demum a Grecis per
Sthephanum papam in Germanos translatum, Turcis et
Tartaris noscitur desolatum.

In festo Sancti Albani, juxta Knyghton in Wallia, inter
Anglicos sub domino Edmundo Mortemere et Wallicos sub
Oueno Glyndour quam gravi innito conflictu, et miseranda
cede ad octo milia inde contingente, dicto O. cessit victoria.
Et heu me! dictus dominus meus Edmundus, cujus me
pater et dominus de Usk ad scholas exhibuit, belli fortuna
abducitur captivus. Qui eciam per emulos in Anglia
omnibus bonis privatus ac redimi impeditus, captivitatis
dolores micius! ut evaderet, dicti Oweni filiam, de qua
filium nomine Leonellum et tres filias, licet jam cum
matre extra unam filiam mortuos, procreaverat, ad mag-
num populi rumorem noscitur duxisse uxorem. Ac demum
in castro de Hardeleghe per exercitum Anglie obsessus *,
de [quo] adhuc mira canuntur in festo, dies suos quam
dolorosos finivit.

A.D, 1402.

A.D. 1403,

A.D. 1402.

f. 173 b.

Isto anno eciam dominus Grey de Ruthyn, ad duorum .

milium de suis necem per eundem Owenum captus, manci-

1 miscius. MS. 2 obcesso. MS.

A.D. 1402.

A.D. 1408,

78 CHRONICON

patur et carceribus. Sed sexdecim milium librarum auri
redempcione ab eisdem liberatus exstitit.

De tanto infortunio Anglico dominio per dictum Owenum
causato mea, dum cogito, viscera contremiscunt. Nam
totam Walliam cum ejus marchia, triginta milium de
cavernis exeuncium consorcio stipatus, omnia parcium
castra, inter que de Usk, Carlyon, et Nuportus, subvertit,
ac opida succendit. Quid mora? Velut alter Assur, furoris
Dei virga, inauditam tyrannidem ferro et flamma miserime
vibravit.

Ista Rome per auditum habui; in qua tunc omnia sub
foro venalium procedebant negocia, adeo quod non secun-
dum merita; sed ad majora precia conferebantur beneficia.
Unde quisque pecuniosus et inanis glorie cupidus ad sui
promocionis effectum pecunias suas in mereatorum habue-
rat baneo. Quare, sicut veteris testamenti venalitate
sacerdocium corrumpente tria cessarunt miracula, ignis
scilicet sacerdocii inextinguibilis, et odor interfeccionis non
gravabilis, ac fumus inpressibilis, timeo quod in novo testa-
mento et ita continget: Et ad hoc, ut mihi videtur, indies
ad januas ecclesie pulsat.

Hoe anno, rex; cum centum milibus et ultra in tres partes
divisis, Walliam militariter contra Owenum invadit. Sed,
ipso cum suis miseris in cavernis et nemoribus delitentibus,
rex, devastata patria, et cum infinita animalium preda,
gloriose rediit ad propria.

Dominus de Fyz Walter, dum Rome erat meis adquies-
cens consiliis, sed in hoc inconsulto, volens a Roma per
mare Neapolym transire, a Saracenis capitur et Thony, prin-
cipalis barbarorum civitatis, advehitur carceribus; sed,
per mercatores de Janua redemptus, ad Angliam propter
ejus disturbia redire differens, moritur Veneciis.

Pro dicta confirmacione imperatoris istud proponitur
thema: “ Pater, clarifica? filium tuum”*. Et per papam
respondetur ad modum collacionis in utroque: “ Manus

1 carifica. MS. 2 Joh, xvij. 1.

ADZ DE USK 79

mea auxiliabitur ei” ', Et ecce confirmacionis bulla: ‘“ Boni-
facius, episcopus, servus servorum Dei, carissimo filio nostro,
Roberto, Bavarie duci, in regem Romanorum electo, salutem
et apostolicam benediccionem. Pater immense majestatis
altissimus* clementi providencia cuncta disponens, terra-
rum orbem disposuit sub distinecione regnorum, illaque
consulte dirigi voluit et salubri regimine gubernari, ne
humane creature status*, que sui creatoris ymaginem et
similitudinem representat, tempestuose fluctuacionis mundi
confunderetur turbine, vel ejus quietis duleedine impedi-
retur, quinymo ut omnes sub juris et honestatis regula
limitati* vita pacifica viverent, et ab offensione alterutro-
rum abstinerent, ac naturali affectu Factorem summum
cognoscerent, cognitum colerent et suo reverendo imperio
subjacerent. Demum Pater ipse, ex alto prospiciens populum,
quem creaverat, dampnacionis sentenciam incurrisse, regem
pacificum, unigenitum filium suum, Dominum nostrum
Jesum Christum, misericorditer in mundum pro ipsius
redempcione populi destinavit. Qui, carne nostre morta-
litatis indutus, populum eundem ab eterne cruciatu mortis
eripuit et suo sanguine precioso redemit. Nos igitur, in
hac terrestri patria gerentes, licet immeriti, vices ejus,
vigilias more pastoris tam corporales quam mentales erigi-
mus, visuri quid gregi commisso expediat et quid operis
inpendi debeat, ut, Ilius suffulti presidio, cujus sunt terre
cardines ®, cui cogitaciones hominum preparantur’, quique
actus mortalium superat, partes officii salubriter exponamus
ad ea que fidelibus necessario expedire viderimus. Sane
dudum felicis recordacionis Urbanus papa sextus, immedia-

1 Ps. Ixxxviij. 22.

® altissime. MS. This bull is published in Raynaldus, Annales Ecclesia-
stici, ed. Mansi, 1752, tom. viij. 94, where, however, it differs con-
siderably from the text above.

5 statum. MS. * limitata. MS.

5 erigentes. MS. The passage in Raynaldus is: ‘‘ Levamus vigilis
more pastoris tam corporeos quam mentales oculos in circuitu,” etc.

® 1 Reg. ij. 8. 7 1 Reg. ij. 3.

A.D. 1408,

Bulla con-
firma-
cionis
impera-
toris.

A.D. 1403.

f. 174.

80 CHRONICON

tus predecessor noster, provida meditacione considerans
mundum positum peccatis exigentibus in maligno, et quod,
disponente Domino, cui obediunt universa, Romana mater
ecclesia super reges et regna, tanquam mater omnium et
magistra, suppremum obtinet principatum, ut per ejus
ministerium regatur salubriter catholice fidei firmamentum,
per diversos nuncios atque literas repetitis vicibus paternis
affectibus excitavit karissimum in Christo filium nostrum
Wynceslaum, tune Romanorum et Boemii regem, ut pro
defensione militantis ecclesie ac honore et statu sacri im-
perii, prout ejus exigebat officium, ad suscipiendum imperiale
diadema ad partes accederet Ytalie. Et videns eum ad
hoc nimia tepere desidia, imperii electores, tamquam impe-
rii membra precipua, sepe eum monendo interdum literis
nonnunquam nunciis, instantissime requisivit ut prefatum
Wynceslaum ad descendendum, premissorum causa, in
Ytaliam oportunis modis atque remediis hortarentur, et
instanciis ac monicionibus debitis propulsarent. Demum
autem, eodem Urbano predecessore nostro, sicut Domino
placuit, ab hac luce subtracto, nos, divina clemencia ad
apicem summi apostolatus assumpti, maximo anime fervore
flagrantes ad obviandum scandalis que Romane ecclesie,
sponse nostre, ac consequenter imperio, cernebamus jugiter
exoriri, tam per nuncios quam per literas paternis affectibus
partes nostras intermisimus!, ut prefatum Wynseslaum
ad hujusmodi descensum diversis modis quos oportunos
putavimus, nichil possibilitatis penitus omittendo quod
expediens visum fuerit, inducere valeremus; et videntes
exortaciones dicti predecessoris et nostras nichil proficere,
ne quid [intentatum]? in tam gravi causa ponderosoque
negocio providencia apostolice curie amitteret, venerabilibus
fratribus et dilectis filiis sacri imperii electoribus crebro
nos scripsisse memoramus, ut, attentis periculis que ex
tanta socordia Wynseslai prefati ecclesie et imperio ac
Christiane religioni jugiter ingruebant, et signanter cum
1 interposuimus. Raynaldus, * Supplied from Raynaldus.

ADA DE USK 81

Gallia, quam semper animadvertimus ad usurpacionem vel A.D. 1408.
saltim divisionem ecclesie et imperii totis conatibus inhiare,
imperialem civitatem Januensem, in ipsius Ytalie faucibus
positam, occupasset, eundem W., ad veniendum in Ytaliam
more dominorum predecessorum suorum, ut e manibus no-
stris imperiale diadema reciperet, et ad occurrendum ne
predicti Gallici pedem in Ytalia radicari validarent, necnon
ecclesiam et imperium juxta sui status debitum defensaret,
[debitis modis et opportunis remediis et monitionibus ex-
citarent]!. Tandem electores ipsi, videntes moram ipsius
infinita dispendia causare, et exortaciones predictas frustra
fore et inanes, ad hanc rem tam sanctam et Christianitati
necessariam penitus obduratas, ipsumque W. ad regimen
dicti imperii esse omnino inutilem, et ne bona imperii
ipsius desidia tenderent irreparabiliter in collapsum, nobis
per eorum nuncium significari curarunt quod, prefati W.
segnicia diligenter inspecta,ex qua mundo pullularunt ? dis-
crimina, ipso amoto, ad alterius eleccionem qui eis potenter
occurreret procedere disposuerunt,licet ipsius W. deposicio ad
nos totaliter spectare noscatur, ad ipsius W. deposicionem
a prefato regno Romanorum, auctoritate nostra suffulti,
concorditer processerunt, et te, karissimum filium nostrum
Bavarie ducem, comitem Palatinum, Renicorumque co-
electorem, in regem Romanorum et futurum imperatorem
concorditer eligerunt. Tuque, super hoe digesta medita-
cione prehabita, ad ipsorum et aliorum instanciam, hujus-
modi eleccioni consensum tuum liberum prebuisti. Post-
modum vero per solempnes ambaciatores pro parte tua
nobis fuit humiliter supplicatum ut hujusmodi W. depo-
sicionem et tui eleccionem et quecumque inde secuta
auctoritate apostolica approbare, et personam tuam abilem
et ydoneam ad suscipiendam prefatam imperialis culminis
dignitatem decernere et declarare de benignitate solita
dignaremur. Nos igitur, de omnibus premissis fide ple-
naria nobis facta, et de persona tua quantum tua paciebatur
? Supplied from Raynaldus. ? ulularunt. MS.
G

A.D. 1403.

f, 174 b.

82 CHRONICON

absencia, de tuis ' quoque moribus et condicionibus virtuosis
ac devocione quam te ergo nos et Romanam ecclesiam
gerere comprobaris, et super hiis omnibus cum fratribus
nostris sancte Romane ecclesie cardinalibus diligenti de-
liberacione prehabita, tuis supplicacionibus inclinati, de
ipsorum consensu, ad laudem et gloriam Dei ac gloriam
Virginis Marie et beatorum apostolorum Petri et Pauli
ac honorem dicte Romane ecclesie et bonum ac proficuum
sacri imperii et prosperum? statum mundi, discriminibus
et periculis ex dicti W. negligencia verisimiliter venturis,
ipsius W. deposicionem et tui eleccionem prefatam et que-
cunque inde secuta rata habentes et grata, te in specialem
nostrum et dicte ecclesie filium suscipimus, tibi nostros
graciam et favores concedentes, tuaque persona idonea
computata, te pronunciamus et in regem Romanorum assu-
mimus, te idoneum ad hoc declarantes, ac decernentes
unccionem et consecracionem imperialem ac imperii dia-
dema per manus nostras tibi fore impendenda; suplentes
omnem defectum, qui circa hujusmodi eleccionem inveniri
poterit quovismodo, ex certa sciencia et apostolice plenitu-
dine potestatis. Precipientes omnibus fidelibus et vassallis
imperii, cujuscumque condicionis existant, eciam si regali
aut pontificali dignitate prefulgeant, ut tibi sicut regi
Romanorum, in imperatorem promovendo, pareant eftfica-
citer et intendant. Nulli ergo omnino hominum liceat,
etc. Datum Rome, apud Sanctum Petrum, kalendis Octo-
bris, pontificatus nostri anno xiiij™®.”

Anno sequenti, pro Anglie, ut dicitur, corona comiti
Marchie captanda, sussitata inter regem et domum de Persy,
scilicet comitatus Northumbrie, quia dicto comiti affinem,
hostili discordia, ad commocionem regni permaximam cum
utraque parte divisi, et disposito in crastino Sancte Marie
Magdalene ob hoc bello, rex, ad consilium comitis Dunbar
de Scocia, eo quod ad tunc pater domini Henrici Persy et
Owenus de Glyndour cum multitudine glomerata contra

1 votivis. MS. 2 presertim. MS.

ADZ DE USK 83

regem adventuri erant, diem statutum preveniens, contra
dictum dominum Henricum et dominum Thomam Persy,
comitem tunc Wygornie, dirissimum induxit bellum, et,
facta ex utraque parte clade ad numerum sexdecim milium
in campo vocato Berewyk cruentissima (ubi et idem rex
pro ibidem cadencium animabus hospitale fundavit), per
duo miliaria a Salopia, in vigilia dicte sancte, eidem regi
bellum hujusmodi aggredienti cessit victoria. In quo bello
dictus dominus Henricus, milicie Christiane flos et gloria,
cum dicto patruo suo dolenter occubuit. Unde et illa
prophecia exstitit impleta, quod “bestia abjecta duo lune
cornua sibi auferet.” Ceciderunt eciam duo nobiles milites
in armatura regis, ac si alter rex insigniti, qui causa salva-
cionis regis in ultima belli acie positi exstiterant. Unde
et comes de Duclas de Scosia, in campo cum dicto domino
Henrico et ejus captivus existens, cum regi Henrico victo-
riam acclamari audivisset, mirando dixit: “ Nonne duos
reges Henricos (scilicet dictos milites innuendo) manibus
meis interfeci? In mala hora nostra adhuc tertium victo-
rem patimur superstitem.”

Plene circuitus indulgencie, aliarum ecclesiarum visitando
labores diffusos alleviando, in septem consistunt ecclesiis,
scilicet Sanctorum Johannis Latronensis, Marie Majoris,
Crucis in Jerusalem, Petri, Pauli, Laurencii extra muros,
Fabiani [et] Sebastiani. Item, cum diffusum fuerit visitare
omnia loca indulgencie in ecclesia Sancti Petri, citra cir-
cuitum septem sufficit altaria visitare, scilicet, Sancti Petri
majus, in quo et requiescit, prout et Sanctus Paulus ita in
ecclesie sue majori altari, eorum licet capita apud dictum
Sanctum Johannem Latronensem auro existant ornata ;
item, Sancte Crucis, Veronice, Sancti Gregorii, Fabiani et
Sebastiani, Leonis pape, et Sancti Andree.

Item, in urbe quatuor existunt patriarchales ecclesie,
scilicet, Sancti Johannis Latronensis, que est mater urbis
et orbis, in qua et est sedes papalis et per quam papa vo-
catur Pontifex Romanus, olim Constantini magni palacium,

G2

A.D. 1408,

Mors
Persy.

Circuitus.

Patriarch-
ales..

A.D. 1403.

A.D. 1402.
Suspensio
fratrum.

84 CHRONICON

Sancto Silvestro per eum ad hoc donatum, sed per Neronem

tamen prius constructum ; secunda, Sancte Marie Majoris ;

tercia et quarta, Sanctorum Petri et Pauli; in quibus omnes

cardinales tanquam canonici intitulantur, et in quarum

altaribus majoribus nemo celebrat nisi papa solus, licet in

urbe multe sunt alie ecclesie, prout hoc versu continetur :—
“Sunt Rome mille sexcente quinque capelle.”

A quodam coauditore meo in Rota, Neapoli oriundo,
habui quod hiis diebus quedam navis ejusdem civitatis
a Saracenis capta erat, in qua una nobilis domina existens,
pocius eligens mori quam per ipsos violari, se subito misit
in mare et ita submersa est.

Post dictam cedem inter regem et dictum dominum
Henricum Persy contingentem, Owenus cum homunculis
cavernas et nemora [relinquens], quasi oportunitatem cap-
tans, in multitudine glomerata usque ad Sabrinum mare
totam circuit Walliam, et quosque sibi resistentes, aut ultra
idem mare ubi per pagenses tanquam Wallici expoliati
erant, aut ferro et flamma, eciam ecclesiis non parcendo,
unde et ad ruinam finaliter devenit, ad sui dedicionem
subegit. Et cum maxima preda ad suas aquilonares Wallie
partes, unde panditur omne malum Wallie, cum interna
adulteriorum suorum publicorum malediccione, pro suo
tutamine, et ad montes rediit Snowdonie.

Homines Bristollie cum armata classe sub capitaneis,
Jacobo Clyfford et Willelmo Rye, armigeris, Glanmorgancie
partes, ecclesiam Landavensem spoliando, invadunt; sed,
per miraculum sancti Theliai a pagensibus divicti, cum
eorum ruina non modica confuse sunt repulsi.

Prior de Launde et dominus Rogerus Claryndone, miles
fraterque regis Ricardi spurius, ac undecim de ordine fra-
trum minorum, in theologia doctores, quia dicto Oweno
confederati, per proprios socios regi detecti, apud Tybornam
Londoniis post tractum crudeliter furcis sunt suspensi ;
multique domini et domine, eciam comitisse, eadem causa
carceribus sunt mancipate.

ADZ DE USK 85

Rex ducis Brytanie relictam regisque Navarie sororem,
per eam relevari sperans, duxit in uxorem. Sed statim,
spe frustrata, Britones nupcias detestantes una cum Gallicis,
comite marescallo Aquitanie et domino de Hugvyle Nor-
mannie eorum ducibus, in magno exercitu in succursum
et expedicionem Oweni intrarunt Walliam, et totam mar-
chiam ferro et flamma devastando nocumenta non modica
intulerunt Anglicis.

Rex duas filias suas, unam regi Dacie et alteram [filio|
ducis Bavarie tunc imperatoris electi, de [quo] supra, cum
non modica regni collectacione contulit in uxores.

Domus de Persy, modicum ante predictum ejus infortu-
nium, apud Hyllyndone Hylle in marchia Scocie, in uno
conflictu multa milia Scotorum trucidavit, necnon multos
nobiles, de quibus et Duclas, de quo supra, captivos fortuna
belli sui advexit carceres. Ex qua, ut creditur, victoria
dicta domus in nimia superbia elata, juxta illud vulgare :
* Ante ruinam cor hominis exaltatur”’!, collabitur in occasum.
Et nemirum, quia lignum non sarra cedit nec securis secat,
sed manus hominis. Ita manus Dei sola victoriam tribuit.

Hiis diebus, ecclesiam Herfordensem vacantem pro pre-
sencium compilatore papa disposuit, sed Anglicorum sibi
resistencium invidia suisque literis una cum intoxicacione
ipsum regi, unde eciam magnis infortuniis? iiij. annis in
terra et in mari velut exul cruciatus exstitit, depravancium,
non promocionem sed depressionem ac ultimatam pauper-
tatem omnibus beneficiis et bonis, inter extraneos cum
Joseph linguam quam non noverat audiendo, licet pro con-
silio auro remuneratus, reportavit privatus.

In Anglia interim parliamenta celebrantur multa, in
quibus et contra provisiones apostolicas strictiora sunt
statuta, et plus solito clerus et populus graviori taxantur
collecta. Et nemirum, quia ita gravantur et guerra contra
Franciam, Scociam, Hiberniam, Walliam, et Flandriam se

1 “ Ante ruinam exaltatur spiritus.”—Prov. xvj. 18.
* Magnus infortunius. MS.

A.D. 1408.

Invasio
Bru-
tonum.

A.D. 1402,
1406.
Maritacio
filiarum.
A.D. 1402.

f. 175.

A.D. 1404.

A.D. 1404.

Litera
regia.

86 CHRONICON

defensando, ac sexaginta milibus auri libris a Wallia eis
solvi consuetis guerra causante destituti.

Owenus apud Machenllith et montani, sua eciam mise-
ria’, cum duellorum et aliarum regaliarum usurpacione,
licet ad sui confusionem, celebrat ymmo symulat seu
confyngit parliamenta.

Comes Northumbrie, pater predicti domini H[enrici|
incliti, ad instanciam et rogatum tocius parliamenti, licet
ad cassum, in brevi reconsiliatus exstitit domino regi. In
quo parliamento quidam vernaculus, Serlo cognominatus,
propter mortem ducis Gloucestrie, de quo supra, trahitur,
suspenditur, evisceratur, decapitatur, et quatripartitur.

Presencium compilator, propter emulorum suorum detrac-
taciones, suis scriptis regi literas, licet et in cassum, eidem
regi transtulit directas,et per episcopum Sarisburiensem sibi
presentatas : ‘“‘ Humillima ac devotissima recommendacione
premissis, cum jugibus oracionibus ad Deum pro salute
regie majestatis. Excellentissime et clementissime prin-
cipum, quod, cum aliis, obtenta per me licencia a celsitudine
regia ut curiam Romanam visitarem, sicuti postea visita-
veram, placuit sancto in Christo patri ac domino nostro
Bonifacio, divina providencia pape moderno, me, licet ad
hoe indignum, ipsius sacri palacii dominorum auditorum
aggregare collegio. Ego vero in Eo confisus, qui aspera in
plana convertere ac mentem aridam fonte sue gracie solus
potest irrigare, quod insufficienciam meam sue benignitatis
rore fecundet, sperans, hujusmodi gratuitum munus, ad
laudem Dei, et ut culmini regio suisque devotis per hoc
utilius obsequi possem, acceptando, illud exerceo, et ali-
quamdiu, si expensarum morandi fortuna arrideat, prout
melius scivero, divina gracia inspirante, exercere propono,
offerens me corde et animo regiis beneplacitis et mandatis,
quibus juxta parvitatis mee modulum servire jugiter sum
paratus; supplicans quam humiliter et devote majestati
regie, sub cujus umbra vivo et volito, cum nichil aliud mihi

1 misera. MS.

ADZ DE USK 87

adeo sit acceptum sicuti incolumis status, felix processus,
et insignis triumphus ejusdem, quatinus, cum regie pietatis
benigna memoria qualiter de absencia alias ejusdem invidie
jaculis causata, teste domino meo, fratre vestro, condolui,
cui tunc vestri prosperum, ut accidit, predixi regressum,
de quo quam felici eciam gavisus, prout spero vestram
regiam non latere bonitatem, ad quod particeps mea ser-
vicia, licet imbesillia, usque ad apicem majestatis regie
condignissime adeptam, propriis expensis fidelissime ad-
hibui, meeque tantillitatis etatem jam provectam uberius
promovendam, caritatis intuitu, eadem majestas dignetur
habere recommissam. Hance mei humilis et fidelis sui
oratoris ac servuli bone voluntatis oblacionem innatis sibi
clemencia et mansuetudine placite accipiat, meis detracto-
ribus sue pietatis aures nullatenus inclinatura, sed me cum
rebus et amicis meis sub alis et protectione celsi brachii
sui benignius dignetur confovere; cui contra hostes votive
triumphare, hic quoque feliciter et diu regnare, et postea
ad regna pertransire celestia concedat Ille per quem omnes
reges et principes dominantur. Scriptum Rome, regni
vestri anno quinto, mensis Septembris die duodecimo.”
In festo sancti Michaelis, Francie, Castelle, Arragonie re-
gum aliorumque Avjinjionensis presidentis principum obe-
dienciariorum ex parte,ad Bonefacium papam, eis publicam
audienciam prestantem, solempnis pro unione ecclesie venit
ambassiata. Quem archiepiscopus sancti Poncii de Francia
affatur in hee verba, ipsum nullatenus papam approbando:
“ Metuendissime domine, si non proprie aliorum saltim
animabus compaciamini, dominus meus ad omnem unionis
viam eciam usque ad mortem inclinari se offert paratum.”
Unde et dominus Bonefacius ita prorupit: “ Dominus tuus
est falsus, sismaticus, et ipsemet antichristus.” “Salva
reverencia, pater, non ita. Dominus meus est sanctus,
justus, verus, catholicus, et in vera sancti Petri cathedra
residens”” ; et ultra cum impetu idem archiepiscopus hec
protulit verba: “et non est symoniacus.” Unde Bone-

A.D, 1404,

A.D, 1404,

f.175 b.

88 CHRONICON

facius, illis verbis adeo attonitus, in cameram rediens in-
fra biduum post vita eradicatur humana. De quo, eadem
nocte, duas visiones habui. Prima erat, quod beatum
Petrum, pontificalibus solempniter insignitum, ultra sui
portam sedere, et alium figuratum tristem et squalidum
papam a sinistris sedentem in terram proicere conspexi.
Secunda apparuit mihi una vulpes, canibus insecuta et
in aqua ramum salicis superexcrescentis in ore pro sul
sustentacione tenens, usque ad nares absconsa, et iterum
a canibus ibidem explorata timore quod aquam dimisit et
in foveam pro ultimato refugio intrans de cetero disparuit.
Unde intellexi quod vulpes, licet semper rapax, macra
tamen continue remanet; sic et ipse symonia plenus nun-
quam tamen usque ad sepulturam satiatus.

Item, unus Teutonicus ostendit mihi quandam literam per
unum sanctum virum a partibus directam, qua et ipse asseruit
se Sanctum Michaelem vidisse eundem Bonefacium violenta
alapa ad terram projesisse ; et ita in die suo, etc., ut supra.

Per mortem domini pape finitur salvus ambassiatorum
conductus. Unde per capitaneum castri Sancti Angeli in
eo detruduntur captivi.

Pro eleccione novi pontificis Romani cardinales intrant
conclave, regis Neapolitani suorumque sex mille militum
custodie commendatum.

Insurgunt Romani pestiferi in duas partes Guelforum et
Gybilynorum, et per tres septimanas cladibus et spoliis
et homicidiis se mutuo infestantes et pro pape in parte
eorum singulari creacione instantes, ad palacium tamen
Saneti Petri et conclave propter dictam custodiam accedere
non valentes. Unde eorum parcialitas unum extra utrius-
que gremium, Innocencium scilicet septimum, in Solmona
oriundum, in papam eligi causavit. Cujus eleccione publi-
cata, Romani ipsius hospicium invadunt et, more eorum ra-
paci, ymmo verius corruptela mordaci, ipsum spoliant, nichil
penitus quantum fenestrarum barras in eo relinquentes.

Conclave est locus continuus, nullo intermedio separatus,

ADZ DE USK 89

pro eleccione futuri pape cardinalibus deputatus ; et debet
esse undique conclusus et muratus, ita quod, preter unum
parvum ingressus hostiolum, et post hujusmodi ingressum
omnino claudendus, remanebit fortiter munitus. In quo
et una parva fenestra pro victualibus, propriis expensis
cardinalium, eis attribuendis, et ad aperiendi et claudendi
oportunitatem erit aptata. Et habent singuli parvas pro
dormiendi et reficiendi necessitate tabulatas camerulas ;
loca tantum tria communia, scilicet privetam, capellam, et
eleccionis tractande locum solum habituri; post primos tres
dies, dum in eo fuerint, unum solum carnium vel pissium
ferculum in die, et, post quinque extunc dies, solum panem
et vinum, usque ad concordiam accepturi.

O Deus!, Cesaris, et Augusti, Salamonis, et Alexandri,
Assueri, Darii, et Constantini magni, quo pertransivit
gloria; sed quo transibit et ista? Futuro eventui sit
committenda !

“ Sedetur hic in trono et osculantur pedes.
Regis et Cesaris non curantur edes.
Christus dedit veniam, nulla data mammona.
Hic non intrat aliquis, nisi facta annona.”
Christus fuit humilis et ejus vicarius piscator quam mitis.
Sed hic me Plato quiescere jubet, ete.

Promocionem hujusmodi domini mei Innocencii ita pre-
vidi, quod a sacristia Sancti Petri ad ejus altare, rubiis de
serico auri textis papalibus insignitus ornamentis, missam
ascendebat celebraturus.

Papa mortuus, pro obsequiis per novem dies tentis, post
eleccionis publicacionem ad Sancti Petri defertur ecclesiam.

A novo papa cum Romanis feda fit concordia (quia cito
post contrita) quod, retentis pape urbis dominio cum Sancti
Petri burgo et Sancti Angeli castro ac sex milia florenorum
censu’ annuo, necnon senatoris, dum tamen ultra centum
miliaria a Roma oriundi, prefeccione, cetera in Romanorum
regimine cederent et comoda,

1 sensu. MS.

A.D. 1404,

90 CHRONICON

A.D. 1404. Rex predictus, Campania et maritima ad annuum quinque
annorum censum, quod postea causavit ecclesie tedium, a
papa per eum captis, cum suo exercitu recessit a Roma.

In festo Sancti Martini, novus papa pro sui coronacionis
solempnitate a palacio Sancti Petri ad ejus ecclesiam de-
scendit, et ad altare Sancti Gregorii, auditoribus vestimenta
sibi deferentibus, pro missa investitur. Et in capelle Sancti
Gregorii ad hoe egressu capelle sue clericus unam longam
cannam cum stupa in summitate gerens, qua stupa ignita
per candelam, in hanc vocem clamat: “ Pater sancte, sic
transit gloria mundi!”, ac iterato in medio ita bis alciori
voce: “Pater sancte, pater sanctissime!”’, et tercia vice,
ad ingressum altaris sancti Petri, trina ita voce: “ Pater
sancte, pater sancte, pater sancte!” altissima voce ; et statim
singulis vicibus extinguitur stupa. Prout et in coronacione
imperatoris, in summitate glorie sue, cum omni genere
artificii eorum ministrorum cujuscumque generis et coloris
lapides per latamos sibi offerri solebant, ita ei clamando:
“ Excellentissime princeps, de quo genere lapidum vis tibi
tumbam fieri?” Item, novus papa, finita per eum missa,
altum theatrum ad hoc ordinatum ascendit et ibi per car-

Triplex dinalem Hostiensem, quia collegii decanum, triplici corona

ena, @urea solempniter coronatus existit. Prima designat pote-
statem in temporalibus ; secunda, paternitatem in spiritua-
libus ; tercia, et magnificenciam in celestibus. Et subse-
quenter, in eodem apparatu albo, prout et omnes prelati
ita in albis, eciam ab inde ad ecclesiam Sancti Johannis
Latronensis, quia propriam pape cathedralem sedem, per
Romam equitant. Ad detestacionem tamen pape Agnetis,
cujus ymago de petra cum filio suo prope Sanctum Clemen-
tem in via recta existit, per obliquum declinans, pro sui
intronizacione, eandem ecclesiam papa, ab equo descendens,
ingreditur. Ubi in porphirea cathedra, ob hoc forata ex
parte [inferiori, ut probetur] per juniorem cardinalem quod
habet virilia, sedet; et, cum cantu “Te laudamus,’ ad
summum altare defertur.

*

ADH DE USK 91

Judei, in via eorum, legem, hoc est vetus testamentum,
ei obtulerunt, ejus confirmacionem petentes ; quam papa, eo
quod per eam ad agnicionem Filii Dei et fidem nostram
devenimus, dulce in suis recepit manibus, et ita respondit :
“ Lex vestra bona est; vos tamen non intelligitis eam, quia
vetera transierunt, omnia nova facta sunt.’! Sed quasi
obprobriose, quia eam non intelligunt in errore indurati,
ultra sinistram scapulam, non infirmando nec confirmando,
ipsam retradit eisdem.

Item, equitabant cum papa non solum ejus curiales et
clerus, ymmo eciam tresdecim urbis regiones cum eorum capi-
taneis et vexillis precedentibus. In transitu, ad evacuan-
dum populi pressuram, tribus vicibus jactabantur missilia
in vulgus, per quorum colleccionem facilior erat transitus.

Jam gaudeo in tanta solempnitate me ministrum inter-
fuisse, prout et ita in coronacione Henrici regis Anglie
quarti ac confirmacione imperii, ut supra, eciam interfui.

O Deus!, in quantum Roma est dolenda, quia olim prin-
cipibus et eorum palaciis plena, jam tigurriis, furibus, lupis,
et vermibus, desertisque locis, eciam per ipsosmet Romanos
se mutuo confringentes quam dolenter noscitur desolata!
Ab Enea post Trojanum bellum, prout et nacio mea ejus
pronepote, originem, Roma, traxisti; unde et mutuo est
locus dolendi. Et nemirum primitus imperium per gla-
dium, secundo ejus sacerdocium per canteloquium rodebant
mundum. Unde versus:

“ Romanus rodit, quos rodere non valet odit.
Dantes exaudit, non dantibus hostia claudit.”
Unde et quidam Teutonicus, coram me super uno beneficio
litigans et anticipacione date facta per cameram pape
venditus, ait:
“Roma dolenda, dole, quia laus perit et decus in te;
Vendere defendis nam ? tu, tamen omnia vendis.
Sic quoque transibis, quia heu! vendendo peribis.”
Vacante ecclesia Londoniensi, collegium auditorum una-
1 2 Cor. v. 17. ? Nam vendere defendis. MS.

A.D. 1404,

Lex Ju-
deorum.

L176:
Missilia in
vulgus,

A.D, 1404.

92 CHRONICON

nimiter ad papam ascendit, rogando quatinus dominum
Guidonem Mone, episcopum Menevensem, ad ipsam trans-
ferret, et de Menevensi ecclesia istorum compilatori pro-
videret. Quod et sibi summe placuit, ita dicendo: “ Re-
gracior vobis permaxime quod ipsum ita recommissum
habetis; et nos gaudemus de tanta oportunitate qua sibi
poterimus de meliori ecclesia patrie sue providere, quia
solempnis ecclesia est. Et bene ejus statum et dictum
Guidonem Mone, tempore quo fuimus collector in Anglia,
novimus.” Sed, devulgato negocio, cum clamore valido et
ore obtestantes regi! ac cardinalibus in Anglia beneficiatis
minando quod, si hoc permitterent, indignante rege, bene-
ficia sua perderent, jurarunt eciam quod rex eundem
compilatorem ad carceres et furcas mitteret. Insuper mer-
catoribus, ne sibi de pecuniis providerent, et sub pena
expellendi socios ab Anglia prohibuerunt. Et certe hic fuit
summum negocii impedimentum, et ita frustratum.

Die Natalis Domini, misse pape et conviviis, prout et in
aliis festis, cum aliis coauditoribus meis officiariisque?
interfui. Et in prima missa,ad dextrum cornu altaris unus
de auro perornatus gladius, erecto mucrone unum capellum
cum duabus labellis ad modum mitre episcopalis portante,
ponebatur, ad effectum quod imperatormet, si presens esset,
cum illo gladio extracto evangelium: “ Exiit edictum a
Cesare,” * tanquam diaconus, quia unctus, legeret, et eundem
gladium a papa pro se haberet. Sed, propter imperatoris
absenciam, uno diacono cardinale evangelium legente, comiti
de Malepella, quia tune nobiliori presenti, eundem gladium
contulit papa. In eadem missa, dupliciter leguntur evan-
gelium et epistola: in Latinis per duos Latinos, et in Grecis,
ad eorum approbacionem quia dicunt se expulsos ab ecclesia,
et per duos Grecos.

Papa unum nobilem Romanum militem in hospitalis
Sancti Johannis creavit priorem, ipsius mareschallo ipsum
gladio cingente ; sed papa, extracto gladio, manu solum in

1 regio. MS. ? mei officiisque. MS. * Lac. ij. 1.

ADA DE USK 93

fronte percussit eum, dicens: “ Hune ictum pro republica A.D. 1404.
et fide Christiana sustineas.’ Novus miles et alios cir-
cumstantes osculatur milites, et de manu pape tunicam
religionis induitur, talisque suis calcaria aurea de mandato
pape per alium imponuntur militem.
_ Duo religiosi de Yndia nigerimi barbati papam salutant,
et, in signum fidei Christiane, cruces ad eorum pectora
delatas necnon eorum baptisma ad aurem dextram non
flumine sed flamine ostendunt, dicentes: “ A tempore quo
in omnem terram apostolorum Jesu Christi sonus exivit', et
presertim a tempore Sancti Thome, apostoli nostri, licet alii
deviaverint a fide, nunquam tamen deviavimus, sed veri
sumus Christiani.” Et gratam audienciam habuerunt.
Hujusmodi supplicacionem presencium compilator tra-
didit pape: ‘Pater sancte, in villa seu burga de Usk, Supplica-
Landavensis dioceseos, est quoddam monasterium priorisse eas
et conventus monialium honestissimum, sub professione
ordinis Sancti Benedicti, ab olim competenter in possessio-
nibus, redditibus, et aliis proventibus honeste dotatum,
devotissime Deo famulancium; in quo monasterio solum
virgines de nobili prosapia procreate recipi consueverunt
et solent. Jam vero, propter incendia, spolia, et alios
fortuitos casus ex guerris in illis partibus frementibus et
alias causatos, idem monasterium ad tantam inopiam de-
venit, quod, nisi eidem per sanctitatem vestram de remedio
cicius provideatur oportuno, eedem moniales pro victu
et vestitu aut discurrendo per patrias mendicari, seu in
domibus amicorum privatis morari, compellentur; ex quo
verisimiliter scandala timentur provenire. Et, cum infra
cepta dicti monasterii sit quedam capella in honore Sancte
Radegundis virginis monialis, olim Francie regine, con-
structa, ad quam homines illius patrie magnam gerunt de-
vocionem, et eam frequenter et presertim infra festa Pasche
et Pentechostes visitare solent, ideo supplicat sanctitatem
vestram devotus capellanus vester, sacri palacii apostolici
? Rom. x. 18.

“ALD. 1404.

f. 176 b.

94, CHRONICON

causarum auditor, qui de eadem villa seu burgo originem
duxit, et cujus nonnulle earundem monialium existunt
consanguinie, quatinus, monasterio priorisse et monialibus
supradictis pro paterno compacientes affectu, omnibus
Christicolis qui in secundis feriis dictorum festorum devote,
tociens quociens dictam capellam visitaverint, perpetuis
futuris temporibus duraturis, et ad eam manus porrexerint
adjutrices, aliquam, eidem sanctitati conplacentem, indul-
genciam dignemini concedere graciose, cum clausulis neces-
sarlis et oportunis, ut in forma.” Et ita papa signavit:
“Fiat, ut petitur,’ pro quinque annis et totidem quadra-
genis, prout in dicta capella patet.

Prope jam palacium Sancti Petri hospitatus luporum et
canum, de nocte sepius ad hoc surgens, condiciones inspexi.
Nam, canibus pro domorum tutamine in dominorum suo-
rum hostiis latrantibus, lupi in medio majorum minores
canes secum in predam abstulerunt, et, licet sic ablati, per
majores defendi sperantes, forcius inde murmurarent, de
locis suis tamen, alcius ob hoe licet latrantes, nullatenus
se movebant. Et sic cogitavi quod consimilis liga inter
fortes patrie et exules silve in partibus dinoscitur esse.

Gens Lumbardie viperina, in Guelfos et Gibilinos divisa,
in spolio et incendio mutuaque clade ac mortuorum carnes
rodendo, prolesque proprias, si ex adversa parcialitate pro-
ductas, ad petras elidendo, se et eorum civitates nonnullas
hoc tempore exterminarunt.

Romani, circa Dominicam in Quinquagesima, cum capiti-
bus regionum, ad agonem, tanquam fallerata fallanx, con-
veniunt ; et juxta id beati Pauli dictum: “Omnes quidem
currunt’’}, etce., pro bravio fortiter certant. Tres magnos
anulos argenteos, ad unam altam cordam ligatos, ponunt,
et in equis, ut lanceas in eos mittant, currunt, inde hujus-
modi anulos habituri. In isto ludo urbis senator”, duo
conservatores, et septem regentes ejusdem in magno
apparatu, stipiti et securi pro cediciosorum decapitacione

1 1 Cor. ix. 24. 2 cenator. MS.

ADA DE USK 95

precedentibus, intersunt. Eodem ludo taberne crapula,
sed miserie epula, cum indomita luxuria, ut Belial et
Belfagor filii, quam bestialiter discurrunt Romani.

Deinde in ipsa Dominica, Judeorum expensis, ad quatuor
currus, octo apros vivos continentes et scarleto rubio con-
tectos, ad summitatem montis omnis terre, ideo quia ex
omni terra mundi in signum universalis dominii illue allata
compositus, octo ponuntur tauri indomiti, et, per descensum
montis dissolutis curribus et bestiis liberis, omnia cedunt
Romanorum in predam; et tune quilibet ac si dissoluto
impetu! dictas bestias invadit suo instrumento. Itaque, si
quis aliquid de hujusmodi preda uxori non attulerit, quasi
miser et vecors ad Sancti Panchardi festum cum ea non
coibit. Et sepius in hujusmodi discursu cedes et vulnera,
et presertim curtesanis, propter uxores et filias sibi exosis,
inferunt.

Postea tres pannos, primum aureum pro melioribus,
secundum argenteum pro secundis equis, et tercium sericum
pro equabus velocius currentibus, in lancee ponuntur sum-
mitate ; et, si quis hujusmodi equester prius eos tetigerit,
eos pro se in bravium reportat.

Et demum a dicto bestiarum incursu, aliqui cum modicis
frustis, aliqui cum intestinis et stercoribus in gladiorum
mucronibus, pomparum cum vilitate transeunt ad uxores.

Papa in festo Purificacionis candelas benedicit, et, in
cathedra sua sedens, non solum singulis presentibus sed
eciam omnibus mundi principibus et principissis catholicis
easdem distribuit, majores et minores juxta dignitatum et
graduum distinctiones, Et erant de alba virginea cera.
Et ita eciam in festo cinerum, in propria persona, omnibus
presentibus cineres distribuit; me teste, quia dictas can-
delas pro rege et regina Anglie recepi et cinerum bassinam
sibi tenui.

In primo adventu meo Romam, audivi de quodam pro-
pheta pseudo se Heliam esse, ac per Dominum Patrem ad

infetu. MS.

A.D. 1404,

Candele.

Pseudo-
propheta
genitor
anti-
christi.

A.D, 1404,

Ambaciata
Grecorum.

96 CHRONICON

generandum sibi Christum filium in terram missum, ac
inpungisse Christum pede, dum crucem ad tormenta por-
taret, ac illam mulierem, que ab eo inpregnari et Christum
concepisse mereretur, benedictam in eternum et ultra fore,
et veram gloriam que ficte Marie attribuitur habituram,
asserendo. In latebris et angulis tamen cerimonias et
ritus suos faciendo, se caute occultabat. Unde et domine
Romane ab eo supponende, victualium cum deliciis, quam
avide ipsum visitabant. Sed finaliter,a Romanis explora-
tus, a latebris extrahitur, ad capitolium ducitur, et ibi, se
ultra centum dominas Romanas uxores, viduas, et virgines,
et ita eciam Veniciis, violasse fatendo, crematur.

Dominica in medio Quadragesime, qua cantatur: ‘ Le-
tare Jerusalem,” ad alleviamen Quadragesime jam mediate,
papa in missa unum magni precii rosarium, auro et argento
mira arte compositum, ac mista murra et balsamo ad maxi-
mum suavitatis odorem per locum redolentem delinitum,
manu sua gerit, ac post missam nobiliori militi misse inter-
essenti elargitur, cum quo et ipse et amici sui in sui
honorem, ipsum in manu gerendo, ipso die postea phallerati
equitant.

Ex parte imperatoris Constantinapolitani, solempnes ad
papam venerunt ambassiatores, injuste se imperio Romano,
eis ex persona Constantini magni descendentibus debito,
privatos, ac per Almanie tyrannum nequiter usurpato, alle-
gantes, et presertim cum toto regno Neapolitano et tota
Lumbardia restitui, aut aliter diem et campum utrique
parti ante urbem super hujusmodi jure ad bellandum per
eum assignari, petentes. Papa respondit quod, propter
eorum hereses et scismata, et presertim de Spiritu Sancto,
quia ipsum solum a Patre et nullatenus a Filio procedere
asserentes, nec vocalem confessionem facientes, ac quia in
pane fermento conficientes, eodem imperio justissime erant
privati; et subridendo hoc addidit: “Sanguinis Christiani
effusionem tractare non affectamus.”

A quibus Grecis et habui quod Grecie proceres a dicto

ADA DE USK 97

Constantino ejusque tribus avunculis, Trehaitn, Leolyn, et
Mewrye, aliisque triginta milibus Britonibus cum eo de
Britania illuc advectis, omnino descenderunt; ac quod
hujusmodi Britonum genus, sue nobilitatis ac dominacionis
in signum, secures portant in terra, et non alii. Habui
ultra quod per Tartaros et Turcos ipsorum imperium stat
quasi exinanitum ; et ita Britonum regnum, eorum origo,
per Saxones noseitur desolatum.

In festo Palmarum, papa palmas et frondes sanctificari
facit, et demum easdem palmas, prout et supra candelas,
eciam distribuit, expensis Januencium omnino transmissas ;
sed, ipsis palmis deficientibus, olivarum saltim presentibus
dantur et rami. Sed papamet duas palmas et duos dacta-
lorum magni ponderis ramos portat plenos, ad cujus ponderis
alleviamen duo sibi assistunt milites.

In cena Domini, olium et crisma papa conficit, et post
missam, extra portam Sancti Petri, cum omni solempnitate
theatrum ascendit ac populum! in misse vestimentis, auro
et lapidibus preciosis refulgentibus, benedicit. Unde, prius
quia visa veronica, peregrini in multitudine glomerata
cordis cum leticia recedunt,

Demum nominatim antipapam, cum suis cardinalibus
et fautoribus, et omnes hereticos, sismaticos, piratas, et
malendrinos *, liberumque peregrinorum et victualium ad
Romam accessum, ac specialiter palacii apostolici, impe-
dientes excommunicat. Et ad hoc ipse omnesque cardinales
in manibus cereos albos tenent, ac, facta excommunicacione,
in vulgus jactant, cum illo fine: “Fiat! Fiat!”

Demum post prandium suorum pedes convivarum lavat,
duos singulis grossos elargiendo; quos grossos ejus servi-
tores a recipientibus et recipiunt, quia eos in humeris suis
ad papam in hoc portantes.

Die Pasche officium pape ab aliorum officio modicum

1 Here the Additional MS. 10,104 ends. What follows is from
the concluding quire in possession of the Duke of Rutland.
2 Ital. malandrino.
H

A.D, 1404,

Palme.

Cena
Domini.

Pascha.

A.D. 1404.

Agnus
Dei.

98 CHRONICON

differt, excepto quod hostie unam partem suis subdiacono
et aliam diacono et eciam sibi communicandas tribuit;
Sanguinemque de calice, versa ad populum facie, per longum
canale aureum, armis regis Aragonie in medio ornatum,
sugit et attrahit. Habent et arma ejusdem regis duas alias,
propter antecessorum suorum beneficia, in curia preroga-
tivas; quia litere graciose, sub [coloribus]1 eorumdem
armorum, in filis sericis, et? pape canapeum, flavi et rubii
colorum, noscuntur perornari. Sed post prandium, in camera
cum convivis communicans, in cathedra sedet ; synziberum
et piper propriis manibus, in signum piperis inter Darium
et Alexandrum magnos intermissi, largitur et distribuit.

Festo Pasche in Sabbato papa in albis missam celebrat,
ac agnos de alba cera benedictos, prout supra candelas
et palmas, et distribuit. Bassinam sepius evacuatam et
tenui, et remanentes in fine pro me habui. Et de agno
hujusmodi ecce versus :—
“ Balsamus et munda cera cum crismatis unda

Conficiunt Agnum, quod? munus do tibi magnum,

Fonte velut natum, per mistica significatum.

Pregnans salvatur, partus sine vi‘ liberatur.

Fulgura de sursum depellit et omne malignum.

Portatus munde salvat a fluctibus unde.

Peccatum frangit, ut Christi sanguis, et angit °.

Donaque ° dat dignis, virtutes destruit * ignis.

Morte repentina salvat Sathaneque ruina.

_ Si quis honorat eum, retinebit ab hoste triumphum.” ®

1 Some such word seems to be wanting. 2 a. MS.
5 cur. MS. * ve. MS. 5 abangit. MS.
® donat. MS. 7 astruit. MS.

* The version given in Sacrarum Ceremoniarum Libri tres (Venice,
1582), is as follows :—

‘‘Balsamus et munda cera cum chrismatis unda
Conficiunt Agnum, quod munus do tibi magnum,
Fonte velut natum, per mistica significatum.
Fulgura de sursum depellit [et] omne malignum.
Peccatum frangit, ut Christi sanguis, et angit.
Pregnans servatur, simul et partus liberatur.

ADZ DE USK 99

Magister Ricardus Scrope, jam sanctus ex multitudine A.D. 1405.
miraculorum approbatus, Eboracensis archiepiscopus, Anglie sor acl ld
primas et apostolice sedis legatus, una cum decentissimo oarra
et illustri juvene comite Notynghamie et mareschallo
Anglie, quia, ut asserebatur, regi rebellabant, apud Ebora-
cum decapitantur. Cives Eboracenses, femoralibus exceptis,
nudi jacentes in terra, ac si alter judicii dies esset, propter
eorum in hac parte favorem, a rege veniam petunt et
habent.,

Septimo die Augusti, quatuordecim Romani majores,
quia in consistorio papam et ejus facta deridentes, per ejus
nepotem, gentis armorum capitaneum, in eorum recessu
apud Sanctum Spiritum trucidantur. Unde et Romani
ad tres centa milia crudeliter insurgunt, et mortem pape
suorumque curtisanorum omnium ac extraneorum mortem
acclamantes. Fugit subito papa cum sua armorum gente
ad Viterbium, Trucidantur, incarcerantur, et spoliantur
ejus remanentes. Que dies illa presencium compilatori
dies erat ire, calamitatis et miserie, quia, usque ad ligulas!
spoliatus, vix cum vita, in habitu fratrum predicatorum per
octo dies latitans, vix eorum tirannidem evasit.

Romani, tubis precedentibus, clamantes papam prodi-
torem [et] ypocritam, foris ejus arma transvertunt et ipsum
transversum depingunt, diabolo sibi diadema afferente.
Statim rex Neapolitanus cum suis Gibilinis et exercitu
occupavit urbem. Ope et favore cujusdam Romani, tam-
quam pauper prout eram, quia eciam mercator cum meis
pecuniis in rumore efugerat, cum nautis, velut unus eorum,
per Tyberym et Hostiam ac civitatem Albanensem, ubi
Brutus, nepos Enee, rex Britonum primus, natus exstiterat,
ingrediens per Cornetum ad papam Viturbii, ei omnia

Dona defert dignis, virtutem destruet ignis.
Portatus munde de fluctibus eripit unde.”
The verses are stated to have accompanied three Agnus Dei, which
were sent by Urban V. to the Byzantine emperor.
1 legulas. MS.
H 2

A.D. 1405.

A.D. 1406.

A.D, 1405.

Intoxi-
cacio,

A.D, 1406.
Equitacio
pape.

100 CHRONICON

exponens, veni. Unde et mihi burdando dicere solebat:
“ Ad fratres tuos vade, habitumque tuum resume! ”

Romani miseri, in festo Epiphanie, quia per dictum
regem oppressi, claves urbis pape mittunt, plenum ei urbis
dominium promittentes.

Compilator presencium apud Viturbium spiculo intoxi-
catur invidorum ; unde et sepcies extasi positus extenditur
pro mortuo ; et, propter Romanorum spolium et mercatorum
fugam, ut premittitur, amicisque propter bonorum recessum
et recedentibus, aliqualiter sustentacione exstitit desolatus.
Sed, ad pape mandatum, a quodam Judeo, ejus medico,
Helia nomine, in grossia ejus urina intoxicacione experta,
post multos labores et expensas, benedicto Deo!, sanitas
recuperatur. Ac ad Rotam, juxta Dei parabolam: “ Factus
est Adam quasi unus ex nobis,” ? inter coauditores resti-
tuitur.

Rome interim in palacio Sancti Petri et in cathedra
pape sedit Johannes de Columpnis, fautor Gybilynorum
principalis et dicti regis delegatus truculentus; pedes ad?
oscula porrigit et alia inaudita in pape derisum facere non
omittit. Unde papa magnam expedicionem contra dictum
regis et Johannis tirannidem Romam mittit sub Paulo de
Urcinis capitaneo. Unde, fugientibus dicti regis fautoribus,
dissolvitur obsidio et quassatur invasio.

Papa versus Romam cum curia regreditur, et juxta id:

* Nam rubia capa mortem denotat tibi, papa,” et

“Ut sis semper equus, albus denotat tibi equus,”
quatuor solempnes albos dextrarios, pro sella? sua, auro,
lapidibus preciosis, et serico rubio stratos, habet. In uno
sedet; tres cum tribus in eis nobilibus insedentibus et
sequuntur. Canopeum de armis regis Arragonie in summi-
tate lancee ultra ipsum defertur. Capa latissima, ymmo
perlatissima, de rubio scarleto, cujus fimbrie per iiij. cursores
pedestres dilatate, ita quod equus videri non poterit, et
ad magnam undique obumbracionem induitur. Ad mamillas

1 Gen. iij. 22. 2 et. MS. 5 cella. MS.

ADZ DE USK 101

ultra stolam et rochetum subtilissimum cingitur. Quatuor
capelli latissimi, cum cordulis mire et preciose artis, de
rubio serico, quorum uno utitur in capite; et tres alii super
tres truncos, tribus equis quam preciose stratis, et quo-
rum cordule nodate ex utraque parte equorum collorum
terram attingunt, per tres nobiles eis insedentes, et ipsum
precedentes secum cohabet; cum aliis inauditis mundo
pomposis et a multis mirandis. Sequitur eum in uno
dextrario albo una cathedra ad sedendum, ascendendum,
descendendum et ad nature operis secessum 4, cum certis
scalis sive gradibus aptata. Obviant sibi pueri cum
olivarum ramis, clamantes “Osanna!” Multa vidit ocu-
lus meus, sed majora hiis non audivit auris mea*®, Et
certe presencium compilator multociens secum in hac con-
fabulabatur via.

Ventilata coram me in palacio apostolico de et super
monasterio beate Marie Scocie Vienne in Almania causa °*.
Mirans unde Scoti inde agere haberent, inde habui inqui-
rens. Propter pestiferam [doctrinam| Machameti, per
totam Alamaniam tam communi quam privata religione
extincta, et postea per Carolum magnum communi resti-
tuta, sanctus Columquillus de Hibernia ad principum
construccionem et fundacionem advectus, quia ibi fides
non defecit, privatam reparacione instruxit. Unde, per
totam in ejus locis insignibus Alamaniam, Scotorum, jam
Hiberniencium nominatorum, monasteria, tamquam celle +
Hibernie, nuper a Scota filia Pharaonis sic dicta, mona-
steriis subdite, et in professione hujusmodi Scotorum, jam
Hiberniencium, sanctorum, ad hoc transmissorum, occupate
dinoscuntur. Et de nominis mutacione nemirum: Nonne,
in Britannia[m] illis Scotis advenientibus, mutato nomine
Albanie, ab ipsis dicitur Scocia ? Nonne, Britonibus Armor-
icam occupantibus, mutato nomine, jam ibi vocatur Bri-

? cecessum. MS. ? Job xiij. 1.
3 Added by another hand. * selle. MS.

A.D, 1406.

Unde
dicitur
Scocia.

A.D. 1406,

De serpen-
tibus Hi-
bernie.

A.D. 1412,

102 CHRONICON

tania? Ac ex Anglis Anglia, de Hiberis Hibernia, sub-
rogata sunt nomina. Kt sic transit gloria mundi.

Inter cetera istius sancti Columquilli, cum sanctis
Patricii et Brigita in Duna Scocie tumulati, miracula:
ipsius nominis invocacio, et in ignem in scriptis missa,
igni dominatur. Unde versus :—

*Sancte Columquille remove mala dampna faville”’ ;
atque
“ Columquillus salvet ab igne domus.”

Isti quia originaliter Scoti ab Egipto, post transitum
filiorum Israel per mare rubrum, videntes plagas Dei con-
tra ipsos percucientes, solum natale1+ deseruerunt; et sub
rege Hispanie in Basclow incoluerunt. Sed, quia regi
notati, et in notam falsitatis scissuram perante; et, secundo
quia ita notati, a retro [patiebantur]?, in vestium scissura
quasi infideles expulsi, sub rege Britonum Barbtroc, Cantua-
rie conditore, Bellini magni filio, [qui]?, a Norwegia pro
ejus tributo recollecto [reversus]*, eis Hiberniam, tunc non
cultam *, ab eo delegavit tenendam.

Et nobiles Hibernici, quibus non credo, sed magis sancto
Patricio, mihi, Rome eorum magnas promociones procuranti,
asseruerunt quod post dictum transitum in deserto, et
presertim serpentem eneum deferendo, filiis Israel servie-
runt. Sed, quia in fide discrepantes, repulsi, ad Bosclow
descenderunt, ut supra, ac, pro hujusmodi servicio a filiorum
Israel Deo remunerati, adhuc venenosis serpentibus non
comitantur.

A quodam capellano Bangorensis dioceseos, de Terra
Sancta reverso’, habui quod ipse, cum aliis quingentis
peregrinis, adversa maris tempestate infra districta Soldani
Babilonie propulsus, ejus carceribus mancipatur et per
annum detinetur captivus. Interim per regem Damasci
campestri bello victus decollatur. Novus Soldanus dictos

1 natalis. MS. ? Such words seem to be required.
5 colatam. MS. * reversus. MS.

ADA DE USK 103

peregrinos coram tribunali suo scisci’ faciens, pro miseri-
cordia se prostrantes, gladio nudo quem tenuit in manu
violenter bis tribunal percussit, sed tercia vice leniter et
propicie, in signum pietatis et clemencie—alias omnes
mortui fuissent—ita dicendo: “Januenses, cum omnibus
Francigenis et Hispannis, quia de eorum liga, reducantur
ad carceres, eo quod tres naves gentis sue depredassent,
in repriseliam redempcionem facturi. Ceteri Christiani
dimittantur liberi, quia omnibus Christianis libenter cum
justicia confaverem.” Et sic ille capellanus evasit liber.

In festo sancti Barnabe, expensarum penuria, quia spolia-
tus, ut supra, et propter amicorum ingratitudines, ut infra,
a curia versus partes recedens per Senas, Januam, marchio-
natum Mounteferati, Astham, Mountgalers, Susam, et in
festo beatorum Petri et Pauli per Mountsynys, nivis
frigoribus quasi peremptus, et per Sibaudiam et in ea
Liburnam et Egobellam, ubi in uno hospicio vidi domini
Leonelli ducis Clarencie, secundi geniti Anglie, ac ceterorum
nobilium secum ad nupsias filie domini Galias, domini de
Lumbardia, secum de Anglia devectorum, solempniter de-
picta arma.

In festo Sancti Gregorii, Griffinus primogenitus Oweni
in multitudine magna castro de Usk, aliqualiter ad defen-
sionem reparato, in quo tunc erat dominus Grey de Codnore,
dominus Johannes Greyndour, et multi alii regis soudati,
in mala sua insultavit hora. Quia dicti domini, viriliter
exeuntes, ipsum captivaverunt, et suos ipsos usque ad
montana superioris Wencie per Usce flumen, ubi plures,
et presertim abbas de Lanterna, tam flammis quam gladii
ore ceciderunt, et per monachorum silvam, ubi dictus
Griffinus erat captus, indefesse contriverunt. Ac vivos
captos, in numero trecentum, ante dictum castrum prope
Ponfaldum decapitarunt, et quosdam nobiliores ad regem,
cum dicto Grifino, captivos duxerunt. Qui Grifinus, per
sex annos in captivitate existens, finaliter in Londonie

1 cisci. MS.

A.D. 1412.

Soldanus
Babilonie.

A.D, 1406.

A.D. 1405.

Capitur
filius
Oweni.

Cedes
apud
Uscam.

A.D, 1405.

A.D. 1406,

A.D. 1406
-1408.

Spoliacio
Ade.

104. CHRONICON

Turri morbo extinguitur pestilenciali. Et de cetero in illis
partibus viluit sors Oweni.

Demum a dicta Egoballa sub aslo conductu per medium
Burgundie, Cartusiam, Digeonem, Beoniam, melioris vini
Francie nutricem,ad Troyes in Champeyn, Francie initium,
Provinciamque et Vile Robarde, ad civitatem Parisiensem
et demum per Clermount per Amyas, ubi [caput ?]! sancti
Johannis Baptiste vidi, et per Aras ad Brugges in Flandria
descendi; ubi Ricardus Lancastell, rex armorum, consuluit
mihi quod, propter regem mortem mihi minantem, citra
ejus graciam adeptam, et quam mihi promisit et pro qua
ipsum expectavi in illis partibus per biennium, licet
frustra, quod non intrarem Angliam consuluit omnino.

Habui eciam quod omnia beneficia mea aliis essent col-
MAUR ee fa ee we peer es Per Aah oeteer ee ee
gintarum marcarum bokaliter dear eeincaie Quid mora?
Cogitavi plura. Sed cum Job exclamavi*: “Si bona sus-
cepimus de manu Domini,” et cetera *.

Per dictum biennium per Flandriam, Franciam, Norman-
niam, et Britaniam, multorum episcoporum, abbatum, et
procerum consiliis, satis inde lucrando, perlustravi patrias.
Et bis interim per Wallicos, quibus fiduciam habui, tota-
liter, saltem altera vice, dormiens usque ad braccas inclusive
spoliatus fui. Et certe ex procerum predictorum largitate
eodem die postea centum viginti coronas habui.

Comes Northumbrie et dominus de Bardolle, post multa
infortunia, primo a facie Henrici regis fugientes in Scociam,
ibi dimisso in pignus® domini Henrici Percy filio, dicti
comitis nepote et herede, inde ad Owenum sub salvo con-
ductu pro succursu in Walliam, ubi aliquamdiu moram
traxerunt; ac demum in conflictu campestri sub domino
meo de Powys per Anglicos devicti. Et in Franciam eciam,
sub salvo conductu, pro relevamine contra dictum regem,

1 Omitted. MS. 2 A line of the MS. erased.

S-explanavi. MS. * Job ij. 10.
° pugnus. MS.

ADA DE USK 105

licet in vanum, duce Aureliano eis resistente, laborantes,
devenerunt. Cum quibus quia sepius communicavi, majo-
rem inde regis Henrici in hoc experti indignacionem
reportavi. Demum comes iterato ad Scociam et inde in
Angliam, sub fabricatis doli sigillis regnum pro se habitu-
rum! promittentibus, proditorie est seductus. Ut transiret
secum, magnas promociones mihi promisit. Visitavit Deus
cor meum, et cogitavi: “Tu Adam, positus in labirintho,
disponas te cum Deo.” Malignum misit Deus spiritum,
et merito, inter regem et istum comitem, ad modum
Abymalech, ut legitur in libro Judicum*, Et sic verti
mantellum, ac ad dominum meum de Poisia, regis et regni
graciam expectaturus, si Deus daret, gressus meos dirigere
disposui ; et factum est ita.

Predicti domini in Scociam, et deinde cum armata
manu in Angliam, regnum pro se habere sperantes, transie-
runt. Sed vicecomes Eboracensis, de eorum adventu
satis consultus, ipsos in campo contrivit decapitavitque,
ac eorum capita, ultra Londonie pontem inde posita, ad
regem Henricum transmisit. Quo audito, presencium com-
pilator de sua a retro remanencia futurorum regraciabatur
Scrutatori.

Ope et favore ducis Burgundie, dux Aurelie, propter
ejus inauditas excessus avaricias, regis Francie infirmitate
hoe causante, licet ejus frater, tanquam regiminis usurpator,
interficitur. Unde et commocio cedicionum permaxima,
adhuc non cessans, in regno Francie noscitur causata, Epi-
scopus Leodiensis, ducis Burgundie uxoris frater, in ipsius
succursum cum quinque milibus armatorum venit ad
Parisium. Quem succursum statim post idem dux re-
muneravit ad plenum. Nam diocese sua, eo quod ad
sacerdocium nollet ordinari, totaliter rebellante, et alium
auctoritate antipape subrogante, sub dicto duce in mortali
bello cum sexdecim milibus et ultra perimitur in bello;
et idem episcopus ad suum restituitur statum.

1 habiturus. MS. * 1x. 20.

A.D. 1406
-1408.,

A.D. 1408.

Mors
comitis
North-
umbrie.

A.D. 1408,

Pares
Francie.

A.D, 1410.

Honor
Arthuri.

A.D. 1406.
Globus
igneus.

106 CHRONICON

Et verum est quod in Francia duodecim debent esse
pares: tres duces, tres comites, spirituales; tresque duces
et tres comites temporales, prout hiis versibus patet :—

“ Lyngo. Remi. Laudu. Nor. Aqui. Burgundia sunt du.
Belva. Chatel. No. Tholou. Campania, Flandria sunt co.”
Verum quia rex paritates dedignando cum omni opor-

tunitate eas sibi applicat, sic quod quatuor temporales
corone unitas jam est adeptus; et duas alias, scilicet Bur-
gundie et Flandrie, idem dux pro se habet. Et hoe fuit
causa malorum, quia, infirmato rege, dux Burgundie ad
se solum regni gubernacionem vendicavit pertinere.

Magister Prucie, de ordine militari Sancte Marie Teu-
thonicorum, hiis diebus regnum Turcorum invasit, et
regem eorum, cum quingentis militibus aliis in fugam
propulsis, in bello devicit. Statim postmodum per regem
Polonie, propter ejus nimiam superbiam, devictus et est
ipse.

A Teuthonicis habui quod, ad honorem Arturi regis
Britonum, quia eos liberavit de manibus Romanorum, per
omnes civitates et loca insignia Almanie pro proceribus
extraneis advenientibus maxime fiunt solempnitates. Lo-
cus communis ville cum redditibus ad hoc fundatus
perornatur. Vina, species, et tripudia cum omni musico-
rum melodia, dominorumque et dominarum solaciis, glorio-
sissime impenduntur.

Magister Johannes Trevaour, utriusque juris doctor,
Assavensis episcopus, abjecta Anglicorum quibus erat
specialis amicicia, particeps sortis Oweni pace et guerra
efficitur, bis in Franciam pro subsidio armatorum transiens,
transfertur ad Indos, et abbas de Lan Eguestre Assavensis
subrogatur episcopus. Idem magister Johannes, in tanto in-
fortunio positus, Romam se transfert, et ibi trans Tiberym,
de anno Domini M™ccccxij™? et de mense Octobris die
quinta, moritur.

Dum eram apud Brugges, erant et dicti comes in mona-
sterio de Ekows ac dominus in uno hospicio medie ville

ADA DE USK 107

hospitati. In vigilia Sancti Bricii, in crepusculo noctis, de A.D. 1406.
Anglia in aere venit unus globus igneus, major magno
dolio, quasi iluminans mundum. In cujus adventu omnes
attoniti timebant perimi! villam. Sed directe transit
contra campanile Sancte Marie, et, ex ictu divisus in duas
partes, ipsas ante hostia dictorum comitis et domini eas
dimittit, ad maximum ipsorum, ut apparuit postea, ruine
presagium.

Et in dicti monasterii cronicis hoe quod sequitur, in Passio _
derisum Francorum, quia per Flandenses alias devictorum, ™"*?'"*
compositum inveni:—

“Passio Francorum, secundum Flemingos.”

“In illo tempore Philippus, rex Francorum, convocatis
discipulis suis, secreto ait illis: ‘Quem dicunt homines esse
comitem Flandrie?’ At illi dixerunt: ‘Alii Carolum, alii
Lodewycum, aut unum ex prophanis.’ Dixit iterum eis
rex: ‘Vos autem quem me esse dicitis?’ Unus ex eis,
nomine Petrus Flot?, consilio accepto a Carolo, dixit:
‘Domine, tu es rex Flandrie.’ Dixit ergo ei rex: ‘ Beatus
es tu, Petre, quia caro et sanguis non revelavit tibi, sed
frater meus qui est infelix. Et ego dico tibi quia tu es
Petrus, et super hance petram edificabo consilium meum ;
et tibi dabo claves regni mei in Flandria; et quodcumque
ligaveris erit ingratum Deo celi.’ Rex vero, vocatis nunciis,
dixit eis: ‘Euntes in Flandriam, dicite Flemyngis, “Omne
regnum in se divisum desolabitur, et domus supra domum
cadet’; si ergo a regno meo divisi fuerint, domos eorum
demolliar, gladium meum vibrabo, et potestas mea regia
subjugabit eos, aut in mari, terram de eis mundando, ipsos
fugere compellet. Congregaboque eos, quemadmodum
gallina congregat pullos sub alis, et fiet unum ovile et
unus pastor.’

“At illi, venientes in Flandriam, sicut rex precepit,

1 perimeri. MS.

* Pierre Flotte, chancellor of Philip the Fair, who was slain in the
battle of Courtrai.

A.D, 1406.

108 CHRONICON

Flemyngis dixerunt. Ac Flemyngi, respondentes et singula
singulis reddentes, dixerunt: ‘Civitates et opida gloriose
construximus. Rex vester non pastor sed pocius lupus
dicendus est, quia vult oves devorari et lupo subici. Et,
cum boves non sumus, timemus subjugari; et, quia pulli
non sumus, timemus sub alis congregari; et pocius gladio
perire. Cum pocius pastorem deceat paci parcere quam
gladio vibrare, nec credimus demollicionem domus ymmo
demonis fieri, ymmo pocius tigurrium sibi in deserto fieri.’

“Nuncii ergo, responso accepto, abierunt, nunciantes
regi omnia que audierant et viderant, sicut dictum est ad
illos. Indignatus ergo rex propter jusjurandum, et simul
discumbentes vocavit comitem Arthasie! et alios condi-
scipulos suos, et dixit eis: ‘ Euntes in mundum universum,
docete omnes gentes contumaciam Flemyngorum in nomine
meo. Qui dederit eis mala, hic salvus erit; qui vero non
dederit, condempnabitur. Signa autem eos qui dederint
hec sequentur: In nomine meo demonia suscipient; Deum
despicient, et, si mortiferum quid susceperint, hoc eis
nocebit. Et cum fueritis euntes in Flandriam, occidite
omnes Flemyngos a bymaitri et infra.’

* Comes abiit, facturus sicut dixit ei rex. Quidam vero
Francorum dederunt quinque talenta; quidam vero duo;
et quidam unum—unusquisque alteri propriam virtutem.
Et, congregans comes universam cohortem, profectus est
statim et venit in Flandriam. Cumque Petro Canyng?
hoe relatum fuisset, perrexit obviam ei cum centum milibus
virorum comitatus. Conversusque Petrus dixit: ‘Tu quis
es?’ Respondit comes dicens: ‘Jeo luy su. Quis es tu, qui
interrogas ?’ Respondit Petrus Canyng: ‘Sum ego.’ Dicit
ei comes: ‘Amen, amen, dico tibi quia, antequam gallus
cantet, ter me negabis.’ Dicit ei Petrus: ‘ Etsi oportuerit

1 Robert, Count of Artois.

2 Pieter de Coninck, the leader of the men of Bruges, who took
a prominent part in the revolt of the Flemings against Philip the
Fair and in the battle of Courtrai.

ADA DE USK 109

te mori mecum, non te negabo.’ Dixit iterum comes: ‘Tu
es Petrus, et super hanc petram evaginabo gladium meum,
et non relinquam tibi membrum sub capite eo quod non
cognoveris [tempus] visitacionis tue. JDicit ei Petrus:
‘Scriptum est enim, “ Non occides, quia qui gladio percutit
gladio peribit.”’ Et Petrus ipse, extracto gladio, abscidit
auriculam ejus dextram. Tune dixit comes: ‘Usquequo
non parcis mihi ut gluciam salivam meam?’ Petrus iterum
percussit et dixit: ‘Sic respondes pontifici?’ Et procidit
comes in terram et oravit dicens: ‘ Pater, si possibile est,
transiat a me calix iste. Non tamen sicut ego volo, sed
sicut tu vis, Petre. Et terre motus factus est magnus
ab hac hora tercia usque ad horam nonam. Et hora nona
clamavit comes voce magna dicens: ‘ Bayard, Bayard, ou es
tu? Pur quey as moy refuse?’ Hoc est: ‘Equus meus,
equus meus, ut qui me dereliquisti?’ Et hoc dicto expiravit.
Et recordatus est Petrus quod dixerat comes: ‘Jeo luy
suy’; et ivit foras et clamavit alte.

“Et dixit unus ex Flemyngis: ‘Vere vilis Dei erat iste.’
Conversus vero Petrus Canyng, cum vidisset Petrum Flot,
illum scilicet discipulum quem Deus neclexerat; eratque
monoculus homo ille!, ut adimpleretur quod dictum est per
Scripturam dicentem: ‘Si oculus tuus scandelizet te, erue
eum et proice abs te. Vir autem ille sequebatur a longe,
ut videret finem, ut impleretur quod dictum est in Evangelio:
‘Melius est cum uno oculo intrare prelium Francorum,
quam duos oculos habere et mori a Flemyngis.’ Ex quibus
dixit unus: ‘Vere et tu ex illis es.’ At ille incepit
de[te|stari et jurare quia non novisset hominem, et con-
tinuo nullus Gallicus cantavit. Et angariaverunt eum

2 In one of the bulls of Pope Boniface VIII, Pierre Flotte was
denounced as ‘“‘semividens corpore,” pointing to the loss of an eye,
and confirming the statement here made that he was ‘‘ monoculus.”
It is a curious coincidence that Pieter de Coninck had also lost an
eye. See Notice sur la Bataille de Courtrai, by A. Voisin, 1836,
p. 20.

A.D, 1406.

A.D. 1406,

De nativi-
tate
Christi,

110 CHRONICON

Flemyngi ut sequeretur comitem Arthesie; et ille, ablato
capite, secutus est eum.

“Putruerunt cadavera Francorum, ut impleretur id quod
dictum est per prophetam dicentem : ‘Putruerunt, corrupte
sunt cicatrices eorum.’ Venerunt Flemyngi, ut viderent
corpora defunctorum, et dixerunt: ‘Dormite jam et requie-
seite. Spiritus quidem promptus est, caro vero infirma.’
Canes et volucres celi pascebantur ex carnibus eorum, ut
impleretur Scriptura: ‘Posuerunt morticina Francorum
tuorum escas volatilibus celi, et carnes ecorum bestiis terre.’
Dixit unus ex Flemyngis: ‘Sepeliamus corpora Francorum,
ne tumultus fiat in populo.’ Dixit Petrus Canyng: ‘ Nolite
sepelire eos in terra, neque in mari, neque in arboribus,
quousque signemus eos Francos in frontibus eorum, ne
veniant vicini et cognati eorum et furentur eos et dicant
plebi quia evaserunt a mortuis. Et erit novissimus error
pejor priore. Et erat numerus centum quatuordecim milia
signati ex tribu Francorum; quadraginta septem milia
signati ex tribu Picardorum; xxiiij. milia signati ex tribu
Normannorum; xvj. milia signati ex tribu Britanorum ;
xlij. milia signati ex tribu Pictavorum ; xvj. milia signati
ex tribu Andagavorum.

“Kt multa alia facta sunt que non sunt scripta in libro
hoc. Post multum vero temporis venit dominus servorum
ponere racionem cum eis, et, consilio accepto ne rediret ad
Flemyngos pugnare paratos, per aliam viam reversus est
in regionem suam.”

Item, inveni ibi, in cronica Martini in historia Con-
stantini secundi, quod in vetustissima tumba defuncti
apud Constantinopolim una aurea cum hac scriptura in-
veniebatur lamina: “Jesus Christus nascetur de virgine
Maria, et credo in Eum.” Item, quod in Hispania quidam
Judeus, dum rupem frangeret, ad plantandum in ea
vineas, in medio petre per eum fracte inveniebat librum
foliatum lapideum eadem verba continentem, et hoc

ADA DE USK 111

addentem, scilicet, de divisione mundi ab Adam usque ad
Antichristum in tres partes, et singularum parcium con-
diciones describentem. Et in Christo sic incipit: “Jesus
Christus, Dei filius, nascetur de virgine Maria, et pacietur
pro populo; et credo in Eum. Et inveniar tempore
Ferandi regis Castellie.” Et ita fuit. Et baptizatus est
Judeus.

Ex annalibus Hebreorum ecce indicia diem judicii pre-
cedencia: Primo die, erigit se mare quadraginta cubitos
supra omnes montes, non dispersim, sed ad modum muri
stans in loco suo. Secundo die, descendet, ut vix videri
posset. Tercio die, omnes pisses usque ad celum dabunt
mugitum, quem solus Deus intelligit; et credo quod finale
Creatori testimonium reddent. Quarto die, maria et omnes
aque ardebunt. Quinto die, omnes arbores et herbe rorem
_dabunt sanguineum; et omnia genera avium congregata
nichil gustabunt, suum Creatorem contemplancia. Sexto die,
ruent edificia; fulminaque ignea ab occasu solis ad ortum
ejus occurrencia. Septimo die, petre se mutuo collidentes
scindentur in quatuor partes, quarum sonum solus Deus
novit. Octavo die, tantus erit terre motus quod omnia
ejus superficia penitus prosternet. Nono die, omnibus aliis
inequalibus in pulverem redactis, equabitur terra. Decimo
die, exibunt homines de cavernis, pre terrore sibi mutuo
loqui non valentes. Undecimo die, omnia ossa mortua
desuper sepulcra se ostendent. Duodecimo die, stelle et
sidera et firmamenti cetera turbidas et igneas comas emittent ;
animaliaque terre in campis congregabuntur cum mugitu
maximo nichil gustancia. Tercio decimo die, morientur
viventes, ut cum mortuis resurgant. Quarto decimo die,
ardebunt celi et terra. Quinto decimo die, fiet celum novum
et terra nova, et resurgent omnes judicium accepturi;
in quo ad dextram cum agnis nos collocet Filius Virginis,
mundum eo quod suo sanguine redemptum judicaturus.

Ante tamen dicta signa, quatuor Sabbaciis mundum
decipere conabitur Antichristus. Primo, sacre Scripture,

A.D. 1406.

Indicia
judicii.

A.D. 1406,

Signa
Judicii.

112 CHRONICON

Christum se a lege promissum asserendo, intellectum
pervertere, ac legem Christi destruere, ac suam statuere
laborabit; et sedebit in templo tamquam Deus, ut legem
Christi auferat : (Danielis, xj. “ Ibi dabunt abhominaciones,”
et cetera; juncta sua glossa). Secundo, per operacionem
miraculorum, quia ignem de celo, et cetera, per spiritum
malignum, sicut Christus per Spiritum Sanctum: (Apoca-
lypsis, xiij., juncta glossa). Tercio, per donorum largitatem,
quia thezauri terre per demones sibi aperientur, quos cum
terra suis distribuet fautoribus: (Danielis, xj.1, cum sua
glossa). Quarto, per tormentorum illacionem, quia quos
in premissis allicere sibi non poterit crudeliter interficiet, ut
in Apocalypsi, de Elya et Ennoc et aliis sibi resistentibus.

Unde ecce metricum signa describens Judicii ? :—
* Antequam Judicii dies metuenda
Veniat, sunt omnia mundi commovenda.
Nam per dies quindecim modo® sunt videnda
Signa nimis aspera, nimis et horrenda.

Legens ea Jeronimus libros Hebreorum
Ista signa reperit, que posteriorum
Seripsit ad memoriam, ut suppliciorum
Convertantur impii metu futurorum.

Nam in mundi vespere venient portenta,
Per que certa poterunt dari documenta,
Pravis quam crudelia manebunt‘* tormenta
Nimis qui amaverant® mundi blandimenta.

Prima dies seculo tale signum dabit:
Mare surgens turgidum® undas elevabit.
Quadraginta cubitus montes superabit,
Terram non operiet, sed nec minus stabit.
1 xiij. MS.
2 See Blume and Dreves, Analecta Hymnica Medii Aevi: Pia Dicta-
mina, Leipzig, 1898-9, vj. 294.
® mundo. MS. * manent. MS.
®° amarunt. MS. ° rugidum. MS.

ADZ DE USK 113

Erit namque postea tale quod sequetur : A.D. 1406,
Mare petet infima sic et abscondetur, ij

Quod vix idem oculis hominum cernetur ;

Et ad statum pristinum postea revertetur.

Pisces die tercia supra fluctus stabunt iij.
Et mugitus maximos versus celos dabunt ;
Congregati volucres plangent et clamabunt,
Necnon omnes bestie planctum resonabunt.

Quarta lux horribile signum exhibebit : iiij.
Mare cum fluminibus omnibus ardebit ;

Omne genus hominum videns hoc pavebit,

Arens metu nimio pro se quisque flebit.

Nubem nimis horridam quinta lux monstrabit, y.
Omnis herbe species sanguine rorabit,

Totam terram sanguinis sudor occupabit,

Omne genus arborum taliter sudabit.

Sexta die menia cuncta diruentur, yj.
Domus, turres, opida simul destruentur ;

Instrumentis bellicis hee sic non labentur,

Ymmo propter proximum finem confundentur.

Die vero septima lapides pugnabunt vij.
Et alternis ictubus invicem crepabunt!;

In cavernis homines metu latitabunt,

Et ut illos obruant montibus clamabunt.

Totam terram tremere lux octava dabit, viij.
Supra pedes animal suos nullum stabit;
Cunctis terram partibus nova lux equabit, ix,

Valles implens arduos montes? inclinabit.

In cavernis homines prius delitentes .
Ibunt die decima campos per patentes,

Et errabunt undique veluti dementes,

Pre timore nimio loqui non valentes.

? clamabunt. MS. ? montes implens arduos. MS.
I

114 CHRONICON

Dee SAOe Post terrorem siquidem talium signorum,
x): Die sub undecima, claustris defunctorum
Fractis, foris salient ossa mortuorum
Et horrorem facient oculis vivorum.

xij. De supernis partibus postea pressure
Die duodecima mundo sunt venture;

_ Et de celo desuper stelle sunt casure,

Et per partes aeris flamme?! volature.

xij. Die terna decima cuncti morientur
Qui viventes seculo tunc reperientur,
Cum defunctis aliis ut resuscitentur
Et secundum merita sua judicentur.

xiiij. Ignis quarta decima die succendetur,
Ut quod homo polluit ignibus purgetur,
Unde superficies celi comburetur,
Atque terre facies idem pacietur.

XV. Dies quinta decima celum renovabit
Atque terre pariter novam formam dabit ;
Et post hoe angelica tuba mox sonabit
Ac defunctos insimul omnes suscitabit.’”

Dies Ju-- “Aer post incipiet totus rutilare,

ot Nam in luce veniens Christus nubis clare,
Vivos atque mortuos omnes judicare,
Josaphat videbitur supra vallem stare.

Surgent ad judicium omnes qui vixerunt;
Hic corona, lancea, crux et clavi erunt.
Et videbunt reprobi quem reprobaverunt,
Eis tune terribilem, in quem pupugerunt.
Hic occulta cordium omnium patebunt,
Opes et potentia nihil tune valebunt ;
Celi sed divicias justi possidebunt,
Amatores seculi flebunt et lugebunt.

1 altis flammis. MS.

ADA DE USK eae

Nullus tantam! lucidam gloriam sanctorum A.D. 1406.
Vel dolorem dicere poterit dampnatorum ;

Nisi quod fons omnium hiis est honorum,

Illis erit cumulus omnium malorum.

Ergo quisque properet reus emendari,
Studens a criminibus lacrimis lavari,

Et venturum Judicem bene contemplari,
Ut in die valeat mala liberari.

Quid dicturi miseri sumus* ante thronum,
Ante strictum Judicem, ante summum bonum ?
Nam ibi advocatum non dat aut patronum,
Sed nostrarum premia reddet accionum.

Nam ad tronum stando tunc Judicis severi,
Non erit distancia laici aut cleri;

Nulla nos exempcio poterit tunc tueri,
Cum perventum fuerit ad examen veri.

Neque erit licitum quemquam allegare,
Aut tune fas* excipere, sive replicare,
Nec ad apostolicam sedem appellare ;
Reus condempnabitur: dicit nullus* quare.

Nichil ibi dabitur bulle vel scriptori,
Nichil camerario sive janitori;

Sed tradentur miseri pessimo tortori,
Quibus erit vivere sine fine mori.

Ad terrorem omnium surgo locuturus;
Omnis clerus audiat simplex et maturus.
Nichil est quod timeam, valde sum securus,
Nam hic sermo percutit velut ensis durus,

Puniendi presules sunt et cardinales,
Abbates et monachi, male moniales,
Sacerdotes emuli, clerici venales,
Congregantes insimul opes temporales.

1 tam. MS. 2 sumus miseri. MS.
3 phas. MS. * stimulus. MS.
beg

A.D, 1406,

116 CHRONICON

Quanto plus accumulant tanto plus marcescunt,
Sunt velut ydropici quorum morbi crescunt,
Dum plus bibunt sciciunt magis! et arescunt ;
Sic avari miseri nunquam requiescunt.

Apud nostros judices jura pervertuntur,

Et qui leges faciunt lege non utuntur ;

Non attendunt miseri mala que sequuntur,
Nam qui dampnant alios primo dampnabuntur.

Homo, postquam moritur, statim fit sepultus ;
Quid est avaricia nisi vilis cultus,
Vanitatum vanitas, cordium tumultus ?
Pereunt divicie, perit homo stultus.

In sepulero tegitur vili tegumento,
Deportatur postea miser in tormento,
Patitur supplicia, ut arundo vento,
Redimi non poterit auro vel argento.

Cogitate, judices, qui et quales estis,
Quid in hoe judicio dicere potestis ;
Non utentur? codice juris nec digestis ;
Idem erit Dominus judex, actor °, testis.

Vos in lectisterniis, clerici, jacetis,
Curtinis et plumeis, laneis tapetis ;
Unde vobis nuncio, qui modo gaudetis,
Tunc in hoc examine dolenda dicetis.

Quare, dum in prandio divites sedetis,
Hostium pauperibus claudere jubetis ;
Pauper clamat vocibus admodum quietis ;
Nil datis, sed aspere eis respondetis.

Semper carnem carnibus implere curatis,
Cum privatis opibus multa devastatis,
Vino nobilissimo ciphos vacuatis,
Ventrem cibis sordibus sepe reseratis.

1 plus sciciunt. MS. 2 utetur. MS. 5 actorque. MS.

ADH DE USK 117

Pietatis opera Judex recitabit,

Prout ea fecerint quosque judicabit ;
‘Egentes non curastis’ malis ‘Ite’ dabit,
‘Veniteque’ curantibus quam dulce sonabit!

Cunctis en preteritis, quicquid horrens erit
Dampnatos tunc ad ‘Ite’ sine fine terit ;
Et quicquid solacii honorisque res gerit
Vocatis ad ‘ Venite’ certe nunquam perit.”

Longcastell armorum rex predictus, ab Anglia reversus,
presencium compilatori intimavit Parisiis quod, facto per
eum verbo regi pro reconsiliacione, quod tum propter dicti
comitis Northumbrie communionem, tum propter detrac-
ciones suorum emulorum a Roma suis literis factas, modus
non erat sibi se reconciliare, quia indies magis ac magis
sibi indignato. Unde coram eodem armorum rege pro-
testatus fuit Adam compilator quod fingeret se hominem
fore Oweni, ac cum gente sua ad Walliam ad ipsum
transiret ; et inde, captata oportunitate, ab eo ad dominum
suum Powys, sub ipso graciam regis expectaturus, latenter
recederet. Et factum est ita. Et hee protestacio sibi
salvavit vitam. Insidie michi erant in mari posite; et
octo naves de Devonia me per duos dies naturales seque-
bantur, et sepius, prout et lepus inter tot leporarios agitatus
est, exstiti.

Sed finaliter, sancti Thome de Yndia precibus, et quem
in visione pro me Deum deprecari quod benedicatur con-
spexi, ad portum Seynt Poule de Lyons in Britannia evasi.
Et ibi in sancti Theleai capella, ubi et draconem centum
viginti pedum longitudinis destruxit, me sibi commendando
missas indies celebravi.

Et demum, captata oportunitate, in Wallia ad portum
Abermo applicui, et ibi in montibus, cavernis, fruticibus
et silvestribus, antequam ad dictum dominum meum de
Powys accedere valui, eo quod in partibus Devonie ipsius
comitis filiam in uxorem tunc duxerat, delitui; multis ac

A.D. 1406.

A.D. 1408.

A.D. 1408
-1411.

Abermo.

A.D. 1408
-1411.

Pauper
capel-
lanus.

A.D. 1411.

118 CHRONICON

magnis mortis et captivitatis falsorumque fratrum famisque
et sitis, noctesque nonnullas! hostium invadencium metu
insompnes ducendo, periculis satis cruciatus. Ulterius, per
partem dicti Oweni, explorato quod ad dictum dominum
meum pro salvo conductu miseram, sub strictis caucionum
custodibus positus eram. Et demum a dicto domino meo,
ad sua reverso, habitis ab eo ad eum veniendi et cum eo
salvo standi licencie literis, ad eum et castrum suum de
Pola noctanter et clanculo me transtuli; ubi et in ejus
ecclesia parochiali, extra teritorium exire non ausus,
tamquam pauper capellanus solum pro missa alimenta
accipiens, ab ingratis cognatis et olim amicis nullatenus
visitatus, talem, et in corde Deus novit qualem, languidam
satis duxi vitam.

Interim, me ibi morante, inter ceteros generosos de parte
Oweni, per dicti castri capitaneum tres incliti viri, scilicet
Philippus Schidmore de Troya, Rys ap Gryvyth de Car-
digan, et Rys ap Tydyr de Angleseya, captivati, primus

_ Salopie, cujus caput adhue ibi ultra pontem stat fixum,

secundus Londonie, et tercius Cestrie ad patibula tra-
huntur et suspenduntur.

Ad instanciam demum dicti domini et David Harlech,
magnifici viri, regis graciam per suas literas, ac ipsas
Salopie proclamari, obtinui. Et tunc illuc pedester antiquos
visitaturus amicos transivi; duos ab eis equos et centum
solidos gratanter habui; famulum conduxi; tamquam
denuo natus, statum ante exilium aliqualiter refigurare
incepi. Ad partes proprias, per antiquos amicos et co-
gnatos, promotos et alioquin? a me non modice relevatos,
ac debitores, et relevari sperans, accessi; quos, non solum
ingratos, dum eciam obprobria incucientes, ymmo eciam, ne
quid ab eis de proprio exigerem, meam ruinam appetentes
reperii. Illud vulgare: quod non propter me sed propter
mea alii dilexerunt, unde et, fortuna labente, neclexerunt.

? nullas. MS. ® aliosque. MS.

ADH DE USK 119

Ac illud poeticum: amicum mutuam me rogante pecuniam,
ipsum et pecuniam perdo et reportavi.

Inde in Angliam, corde cum tremulo licet cum hillari
vultu, dominos et amicos antiquos visurus me transtuli,
omnia beneficia et bona perdita irrecuperabiliter exploravi.
In parliamento cum aliis doctoribus interfui ; ac paulatim,
Deo operante, cor, vultum, et animum dilatavyi.

Per dominum meum Cantuariensem, in curia sua Can-
tuarie restitutus, ad bonam ecclesiam de Merstham pro-
motus fui; servientes, libros, pannos, et lares, ut alter Job,
accumulavi: quare benedicatur Deus in eternum et ultra!

Uxor Oweni, cum ejus duabus filiabus et tribus neptibus,
domini Edmundi Mortemari filiabus, et omnibus laribus,
captivatur et Londoniam ad regem transmittitur. Owenus,
cum unico filio suo, Meredyth nomine, in terris, cavernis et
montium fruticibus delitet miserime. Ad bonam cautelam,
regis expensis per ejus soldatos [ad] rebelliones novas refre-
nandas!, de Snowdona et aliorum montium ac silvarum
North Wallie saltus et passus custodiunt,

Henricus quartus, postquam quatuordecim annis quosque
sibi rebelles confringendo potenter regnaverat, doluit in-
toxicatus ; unde carnis putredine, oculorum ariffaccione, et
interiorum egressione per quinque annos cruciatus, apud
Westmonasterium in camera abbatis, ipsius genesim quod
in Terra Sancta moreretur verificando, infra sanctuarium,
anno Domini meccexij., et mensis Marcii die vicesimo, diem
suum clausit extremum; et per aquam transportatus
sepelitur Cantuarie. Istam putredinem portentabat sibi sue
coronacionis unctio, quia pediculorum in capite presertim
generatio adeo quod nec erines sustinet, nec discoopertum
caput per plures menses habere potuit. Unum de obla-
cionis ipsius tempore in coronacionis missa nobilibus de manu
sua in terram cecidit; quod tum per ipsum memet et alios
astantes diligenter quesitum et inventum ab ipso offertur *,

* refrenatas. MS.
? These last two sentences added in the margin of the MS.

A.D. 1411,

A.D. 1409.

A.D. 14138.
Mors
Henrici
quarti.

A.D. 1418.

A.D. 1411,

A.D. 1414.

120 CHRONICON

Henricus quintus, suus ex filia comitis Herfordie primo-
genitus, probissimus juvenis ac virtutibus et sagacitate
plenus, xiiij. die a patris morte, Dominica scilicet in Pas-
sione tunc contingente, apud Westmonasterium coronatus
solempnissime exstitit.

Eadem die nimis vehemens et inaudita tempestas regni
montes cooperuit; homines, bestias et domos suffocavit ;
ac valles et palludes, cum nimiis hominum dampnis et
periculis, mirabiliter submersit.

Novus rex omnibus quantumcumque eciam lese majes-
tatis criminosis, dum tamen citra festum sancti Johannis
Baptiste literas regias inde facerent expediri, in convivio
coronacionis perdonacionem fecit proclamari; unde pro
ipsis literis magnas pecunias habuit. Ac eciam in par-
liamento suo, inmediate ex tunc apud Westmonasterium
tento, clerum in decima et populum in quintadecima parte
collectavit. Item, in stipendiorum annuorum quorum-
cumque confirmacionibus primi anni comoda sibi reser-
vavit. Necnon quascumque financias, in novis regum
creacionibus fieri solitas, dupplicavit. Ac contra Wallicos
et Hibernicos, ut singuli in suas proficiscerentur’ patrias,
edictum promulgavit ; et inde ab eis, pro morandi licencia,
magnos thezauros sibi congregavit.

Hiis diebus, in vim cujusdam exempcionis Bonefacii
noni, universitas Oxoniensis unanimiter et manu forti
metropolitice resistere visitacioni; unde tribulaciones per-
maxime, cedes hominumque nonnulle, propter supervenien-
tes patrie proceres ad succursum dicti domini Cantuar-
iensis, mutue contingebant. Sed incassum ad tune idem
dominus recessit; ac per Johannem papam vicesimum
tercium hujusmodi exempcionem revocari obtinuit, et uni-
versitatem eidem ad renunciandum compulit.

Ambassiatores solempnes Francie pro regis maritagio et
regnorum tranquillitate, suis cum eo expensis stantes per duos
menses, ac demum cum eis recedentibus et suos transmisit.

1 profiterentur. MS.

ADA DE USK 121

Domino comiti Marchie, et per ipsum domino regi, duo
pupilli, alter novem annorum et altera septem annorum
tantum, ad magnam et inauditam miracionem, offeruntur,
in Wallia cum eorum prole communi matrem lactente
oriundi,

Sub domino Johanne Oldcastell, milite, dicto per uxorem
domino de Cobham, Lollardi eorum pestifera doctrina, et
presertim circa sacramentum altaris, ecclesiam ejusque
fideles ac regnum perturbant. Facultas eis in multitudine
glomerata indies pululantibus onerose sub pena interdicti
in locis aufertur. Dictus dominus Johannes per dictum
dominum Cantuariensem et alios suffraganeos suos sibi
assistentes dampnatur hereticus, et in Turri Londonie [ab]
eo mancipatur intrusus. Inde ultra muros de nocte evadens
suis literis et nunciis suos fautores sibi alliciendo regnum
clanculo commovet.

In vigilia Epiphanie, regem fortem pro fide pugilem
Christianissime zelantem, prelatosque ac ecclesias hostiliter
ad invadendum et destruendum omnes, ad congregandum
Fykettysfelde noctanter sibi et confederatis suis facinorosis
hujusmodi ordinat campum. Sed, campo ea nocte per
regem in hoe consultum manu militari prevento, dum ita
veniunt, in multitudine capiuntur, trahuntur, suspenduntur,
et cremantur. Inter quos et dominus Rogerus Acton,
miles de Salopia, adhuc per mensem in patibulo stat
suspensus. Plures dampnati et dampnandi in Londonie
Turri et ubique per regnum tenentur incarcerati. Iste
miles, tegulatoris filius, ex infimo genere Salopie oriundus,
predis et spoliis guerre Wallie ditatus, se nimis extollendo,
ordinis militaris prerogativa ac milicie cingulo per Henri-
cum quartum insigniri, ac per duos ejus filios, primogeni-
tum jam regem ac secundogenitum jam ducem Clarancie,
calcaribus aureis adornari obtinuit. Post tamen in ipsos
quam ingratus recalcitrari non erubuit.

Mensis Februarii xix die, anno Domini m™. ccce. xiij,
dominus meus illustrissimus, domini nostri regis et fratrum

A.D, 1414.

A.D, 1413.

A.D, 1414.

Mors
archiepis-
copi Can-
tuariensis.

A.D. 1414,

122 CHRONICON

suorum, necnon Marchie, Arundellie, et Notynghamie ac
Staffordie comitum, necnon de Bergaveny et Spenser,
patruus, comitis Arundellie defuncti filius, dominus Thomas
de Arundellia, Cantuariensis archiepiscopus, tocius Anglie
primas et apostolice sedis legatus, virtus, lampas et
sophia populi, lucerna ac delicie cleri, ecclesieque fidei
Christiane columpna inpressibilis, qui me de Kemsynge
in Cancia et de Merstham in Suthreya, cum prebenda de
Landogy in Wallia, bonas ecclesias contulit, et per quem
me ad majora, prout ita promiserat, promoveri sperabam,
casu quodam quo omnia tendunt in occasum subita muta-
cione functus, dies suos, longe ante optatum michi terminum,
pro dolor!, Cantuarie terminavit, Regis celestis illam dul-
cedinis vocem: “Serve bone et fidelis, intra in gaudium
domini tui”,! cum eternitatis gaudio recepturus. Quam
terminacionem eadem nocte Londonie in visione habui,
scilicet quod ipse, relicta tota familia et in curtis vestibus,
quasi remote transiturus, velocissime currebat solus; et,
cum ego omni nisu ipsum insequi laborarem, tradidit
michi unam ceream candelam, dicens; “Scindas istam in
medio inter nos duos”; et sic a visu meo disparuit. Et
sic vigilans intellexi quod divisi eramus de cetero, et
pro anima sua quam dolenter missam celebravi; et postea
de morte sua certioratus fui. Qui, ad mortis sue tempus,
toto provincie sue clero, nulli quantumcumque exempto
ac laborare valenti parcendo, pro fide qua stamus, in
ecclesia sancti Pauli Londonie solempnissimam celebravit
convocacionem. In qua, pugil fortissimus existens, multa
bona contra Lollardos et hereticos ordinavit: inter cetera,
de consensu regio, quod committens in heresim, confiscatis
ejus bonis mobilibus et immobilibus, in crimen eciam ex
hoc lese majestatis incideret, ita quod ultra ignem heresi
condignum eciam tractus et suspensus ad furcas adderentur
pene ; eciam quod per comitatus per regis justiciarios in hoc

1 Matt. xxv. 21.

ADA DE USK 123

inquisiciones et judicationes fierent. Quas ordinaciones
ante mortem suam bene execucioni demandari obtinuit.
Et dicta convocacio! ad Oxoniam continuatur, ubi heresis
nidus pululabat. Pendente continuacione, decessit, ut
supra.

Frater Johannes Burghhull, vir avarissimus, de ordine
predicatorum, episcopus Lychfeldensis, ad scandalosam ejus
per totum regnum famam, magnam summam auri in quo-
dam camere sue foramine abscondit ; et, quia in alia parte
foramen erat apertum, due monedule, merito a moneta
dicte, volentes in eo nidificare, aurum per arbores et
gardinum dispergentes, foramen eo ad multorum comodum
evacuaverunt. Quod una die in mensa dicti domini mei
ad magna solacia, per nonnullos convivas regni magnates
fabulatum audivi.

Ad sedem transfertur Cantuariensem magister Henricus

A.D. 1414.

Chychley, legum doctor, Menevensis tune episcopus; cui -

et subrogatur in Menevensem magister Johannes Kedryk.
Dicto jam Cantuariensi in recessu meo ab Oxonia cathedram
meam civilem dimisii Demum et infra medietatem anni
extunc predicto fratri Johanni Burchill ab hac vita sub-
tracto, et sibi N. de Patryngtona, ordinis Carmelitarum,
subrogatur in sedibus,

Rex apud Laicestriam tenet parliamentum ; in quo pre-
latis et clero plures excessus et extorsiones ac negligencie
in approbacionibus testamentorum, in abusu hospitalium,
et in residencia curatorum et aliis, obiciuntur. Istorum
reformacionem objectorum rex convocacioni remisit cleri ;
qua sub dicto Cantuariensi in ecclesia sancti Pauli Lon-
donie tenta, in multis fuerat reparacio ordinata, presertim
circa testamenta ; scilicet quod infra c. solidos, xij. denarii,
et sic usque ad viginti libras ; et ultra, usque ad e¢. libras,
x. solidi; et sic usque ad mille libras, pro singulis e. libris,
x. solidi; ita quod, in quacumque summa bona testamenti
existant, ordinarius ultra xx. libras pro omnibus laboribus

1 convocacione. MS.

A.D. 1414,

124 CHRONICON

non recipiet. In ista convocacione a clero, licet contra
ordinem, quia primo laici! concedere solebant, due con-
ceduntur decime, ante quintedecime temporalium conces-
sionem.

Jam, expensis cleri, ad consilium generale Constancie,
tenendum regni et potissime cleri expensis, pro dictorum
excessuum ac unionis universalis reparacione, solempnes
mittuntur ambassiatores, episcopi Bathoniensis, Sarisbu-
riensis, et Menevensis, ac abbas Westmonasterii et prior
Wigornie, ac comes Warwici, ac domini Fyzhw et de
Swiche, necnon milites domini Walterus Hunderford et
Radulphus Racheford.

Hoc tempore Scoti partes Anglie boriales non modice
infestant.

Ecclesia Londoniensis, proprio et discrepante usu dimisso,
indies Sarisburiensia officia prima Dominica Adventus sibi
ad usum primitus accepit.

Rex in hoc parliamento generalem pardonacionem omni-
bus literas hujusmodi citra festum sancti Michaelis expedi-
turis concessit. Ordinatum est eciam quod capellani sti-
pendiarii, si curati, octo alias vij. marcas tantum recipient.
Sicut et alias lane, jam de sarcinis? panni ordinatur
tributum. In vigilia Concepcionis Beate Virginis dissolvi-
tur parliamentum.

Isto secundo regni sui anno, prope Schene super ripam
Tamesii tres religiosas, unam Cartusie, secundam sancte
Brigide, et terciam sancti Celestini, incepit fundare domos,
de possessionibus monachorum Francie easdem dotando.
Prioratus de Goldclef et de Nethe, alias Gallice, jam indi-
genantur.

Rex nonnullos suo lateri speciales ad quemcumque sui
regni pecuniosum sibi pecuniam mutuaturos per totum
suum regnum dispergit.

Rex, ad requirendum regem Francie pro terris suis
hereditariis in ejus regno situatis, una pro filie sue mari-

’ clerici primo laici. MS. 2 cercinis. MS.

ADA DE USK 125

tagio sibi pro bono concordie habende, ambassiatores,
scilicet de Duram et de Norwicho episcopos, de Dorsettia
comitem ac de Scrope dominos, dirigit quam solemnes in
Franciam. Sed inde quasi derisi et infecto negocio redeunt
in Angliam. Unde rex et regni heroes indignati, ut infra,
indignacionis arma dirigunt in Francos.

Unum pejuratum! mirabile! Noster papa Johannes
vicesimus tercius, contra sua ad unionem promissa, aliis
duobus, scilicet Gregorio et Benedicto, secum, licet mon-
struose, concurrentibus, quia recalcitrans, et alias de per-
juriis, homicidiis, adulteriis, simoniis, heresi, et aliis
excessibus, et quia bis latenter ac ignominiose in apparatu
vili recedens transfigurate, per ipsum consilium perpetuis
mancipatur carceribus.

Decimo sexto die mensis Junii, Henricus quintus, anno
regni sui tercio, locis sacris per eum primitus quam devote
Visitatis, in gloriosa facessia versus Franciam debellandam
ad litus maris de Portysmouth transiturus, Londonia exit.
Quo ad eum regis Francie ambassiatores, fictam pacem
querendo venientes, a certis ejus consiliariis, Ricardo sci-
licet Cantibrigie comite, ducis Eboraci fratre, necnon de
Scrope et de Gray dominis, ipsius mortem seu saltem
viagii impedimentum in magno redemerunt auro. Qui,
per comitem Marchie detecti, mortem tanta prodicione
dignam merito reportarunt. Veniuntque solemnes ambas-
siatores a rege Aragonie ejus filiam regi nostro in uxorem
offerentes ; cum quibus suos inde transmisit ambassiatores.

Deinde mari sulcato sub prospero velo tercio [decimo|
die Augusti ad ripas Normannie prope Herflete cum suis
votive applicuit. Tentoriisque fixis sibi insultat, subtera-
niaque fodina ipsius aream contribulat, suis machinis
et bombardis ipsam et ipsius muros quassat ; finaliter suis
cum hominibus nudis in colla funatis et cordulatis et

1 The MS. seems to be corrupt: pennatum was first written; but
has been touched, to convert it, apparently, into peiuratum. Perhaps
unum should be unicum.

A.D, 1414,

A.D. 1415.

Papa de-
ponitur.

A.D. 1415.

126 CHRONICON

omnibus ejus bonis sibi in dedicionem reportat. Omnes
olim indigenas expellit et suos Anglicos ibi collocat;
comitem Dorsettie ipsius capitaneum errogat. Ventris
fluxu in obsidione plures, de quibus Norwici episcopus,
de Arundellia et Southfolk comites, perierunt. Ad milia
eciam, quidam honeste quia licenciati, quidam causarie quia
infirmati, quidam ignominiose quia desertores milicie et
cum regis indignacione, ad propria remearunt.

Rex, Deo se et gladii fortune animose et tanquam alter
leo se committens, decem vix milibus bellicosis stipatus,
versus Calesiam perendinandam per medium pagi, imo
per medium Francie, poncium ob fracturam, cautus vias
suas dirigit. Cui hostes sui de Francia ad sexaginta milia
nobiliorum et prefectorum occurrunt juxta Agingcourt in
Picardia. Conserto bello, benedicatur Deus !, cessit victoria
regi nostro; de cujus parte tantum xxvij. ceciderunt, de
quibus Eboraci dux, de Suthfolk comes juvenis, ac de
Kychlay et de Skidmore milites, et David Game, de
Breconia, ceciderunt nobiles. Ex parte Gallorum, ad
mortem, captivitatem seu fugam positorum, omnium tesau-
rum et vecturas regis, licet ad sui confusionem, secum
habencium, de Aureliano et de Borbonia ducibus ac vj.
comitibus captivatis, tres duces, vj. comites, xxiij. barones,
lxxxx* domini, et mille cecc cum tunicis armature nobiles,
vij.1 m. plebei ceciderunt morti.

Quarto die Novembris, sub domino Johanne, Bedfordie
duce, regis secundo fratre, et ejus in absencia locumtenente,
Londonie incipit parliamentum solempne, ob regis in
hominibus et expensis causatum relevamen. In quo per
temporales conceditur quod integra quintadecima, per eos
ad festum Purificacionis Beate Virginis extunc, ut supra,
solvi concessa proximum, quod ante festum Sancte Lucie
Virginis ad usum regis debeat indilate levari. Concessa
est eciam et alia quintadecima ad proximum annum
sequentem in festo Sancti Martini persolvenda ; regi eciam,

1 Originally xvij., but the x has been struck out. MS.

ADH DE USK 127

ad terminum vite sue, quoad merces de lane saccis quatuor A.D. 1415:
marce, vinique doliis tres solidi, et aliis mercis libris xij.
denarii, singulariter et in singulis; et merito, quia virtuti-
bus collaudando.
Ad cujus laudem ita quidam metricus scripsit :-— Versus.

“ Anglorum cuncta prece pauset plebs operosa.
Crispini luce victoria sit speciosa ;
Qua de Francigenis acies ruit invidiosa,
Cui fit Angligena probitas quasi ridiculosa ;
Ridiculosa tibi, Francorum gens odiosa,
Fit vota, qua nostri regis stat mens animosa.
Mens animosa sibi datur, et tibi desidiosa.
Desuper hec dantur. Laus, Christe, tibi preciosa.
Truditur artis opus; meat arte supersticiosa
Excors, lapsura mens haurit amara morosa.”

Kt in festo Sancti Bricii dissolvitur parliamentum.

Ad proximum extunc mensem Novembris, die decima
nona, in ecclesia Sancti Pauli Londonie, sub magistro
Henrico Chicheley, Cantuariensi archiepiscopo, fit cleri
convocacio, ad regis subsidium, quia rebus per hostem
spoliati, causata. In qua, non obstante quod ad proximum
Purificacionis festum una integra remaneat regi persol-
venda decima, ut supra, due alie integre ad duo Sancti
Martini in Yeme festa proxime futura, de beneficiis eciam
non taxatis, x. librarum et ultra annuum valorem attin-
gentibus, et per ordinarium in valore estimandis, regi con-
ceduntur et decime. A qua tamen concessione presencium
compilatoris instancia Wallie, quia per guerram depaupe-
rata, beneficia relevari causavit. Ambassiatoribus eciam
cleri, in consilio apud Constanciam generali pro unione
ecclesie existentibus, expensarum! conceditur et subsi-
dium.

Dies Sancti Georgii, ab omni opere liberanda servili, ad
instanciam regis in duplex prorogatur? festum.

1 expensarum quia. MS. 2 prerogatur. MS.

A.D. 1415.

128 CHRONICON

Vicesimo tercio mensis Novembris die, anno Domini
m™° eccc™ xv, a Caleciis Londonias cum captis rex ad-
veniens, ad unum miliare extra civitatem per clerum in
processione, et ad quatuor miliaria in loco vocato Blakheth
nobilium et civium per populum in equis, ac rubeo, cum
capuciis partitis de albo et nigro ornatis, ad x. milia
indutum, cordis cum tripudio suscipitur obviam. In
ingressu pontis Londoniarum, unus gigantissimus armatus,
ut alter Pallas, longitudine excedens muros, et cum lancia,
ut altera Turni (cujus lancea idem Pallas, ad quatuor
pedum cum dimidio longitudinis confossus vulnere, de
quibus supra’, vj° libro, capitulo xxj™° in fine, periit), et
cum una securi permaxima, eciam solo ejus flatu non solum
ad nemora struendum, verum et ad excercitum cedendum ;
ac juxta eum ejus uxor, tam grossa quod, non solum ad
generandum giganteos demones, verum eciam ad produ-
cendum infernales turres sua magnitudine apta, ultra
portam cum armis regiis ejus statuuntur custodes. In
medio pontis, ante ejus levabilem pontem, duo stant pro-
pugnacula, in quorum uno a dextris unus leo lanceatus, et
in altero antelupus cum armis regis circumcollatus, et ultra
pontem ymago sancti Georgii decenter armata, ad ipsius
pontis custodiam statuuntur positi. Aquarum conductus,
vino emanantes et preciose ornati, potare volentibus cedunt
ad solacium. Ad crucem in medio Chepe de una parte
in aliam, ecclesiam sancti Petri attingentem, triplicatum
gradatumque ascensum, cum mira arte acierum cumque tur-
ribus et propugnaculis, regnique et ejus principum armis
undique affixum, mira carpentariorum et pictorum arte
tabulis confectum, ac grosso lineo variis porphiricis, mar-
moriis, et eburniis petrarum coloribus ad murorum, in quibus
ita scribebatur, “ Gloriosa dicta sunt de te, civitas Dei,” 2
apparenciam velatum, angelorum, cantorum et organorum

1 i.e. in Higden’s “ Polychronicon,” to which Adam’s chronicle was
added as a supplement.
2 Ps, Ixxxvj. 4.

ADA DE. USK 129

modice plenum, mirifice statuitur. Ex cujus portis ferreis
duos bassinos aureos auroque plenos regi oblatos vj. mag-
nifici deferentes exeunt cives. Ad modum regi David
post Golye cedem, obvium, juxta inferiorem conductum,
cum choris et tympanis et phiolis aureis, triputando, can-
tantes occurrunt et virgines. Quid mora? Omni jocundi-
tatis indumento perornatur civitas, et merito facta est
magna leticia in populo.

Rex, ad Sanctum Paulum descendens, sanctam crucem,
beati Erkynwaldi sepulcrum, ac summum altare cum magna
devocione et oblacione visitat; inde ad Westmonasterium
ibidem pransurus recedens; ac in crastino pro utriusque
partis in bello defunctis per prelatos et clerum apud
Sanctum Paulum solemnes exequias celebrari faciens.

Predictas de Harflu capcionem et de Agingcourt belli
victoriam brevi hoc habeas versu :—

“Harflu fert Mauric Agincourt prelia Crispin ;”?

et hoc, sub data, anno Domini millesimo cccc™ xv", ex
eodem versu: M. semel, ec. ter, 1. bis, et v. bis, et j. quinquies
colligendo. Dicta sanctorum festa intulerunt prelia.

Moritur Owenus de Glyndor, post quatuor annos quibus
a facie regis et regni latitasset; et sub noctis tempestate *
per suos fautores sepelitur. Sed, per suos emulos funere
detecto, sepulture restituitur. Sed ubi receptatus erat
nesciri poterit.

Rex cum magna devocione ad fontem sancte Wenefrede
in Northwalia et pedes a Salopia peregre proficiscitur.

Comes Dorsetie, capitaneus de Harefiut, cum quingentis
personis exiens, insultum Francorum sibi obvium ad duo
milia trucidavit et multos captivavit.

Marcii tercio die, apud Westmonasterium celebratur par-
liamentum, et in ecclesia Sancti Pauli convocacio, in quibus
a clero et populo due decime et due quintedecime regi
conceduntur subsidio.

1 Elmham, “ Liber Metricus,” 1. 579. 2 tempeste. MS.
K

A.D, 1415,

A.D. 1416,

A.D, 1416,

A.D. 1417,

130 CHRONICON

Sismundus, rex Hongarie et Romanorum, postquam. per
annum pro unione ecclesie in concilio generali Constancie
laborasset, ac Johannem papam xxiij., Rome presedentem,
propter suas fallacias carceribus mancipasset, regesque
Castellie et totius Hispanie pro dicta unione visitasset,
per regnum Francie in Angliam, pro regnorum pacis re-
formacione. Sed, cum ad magnas regni exspensas Londoniis
stetisset, Francorum versucia negocio frustrato, ad con-
cilium adiit Constancie.

Dirum sub duce Bedfordie, regis fratre, cum Francis
navale committitur bellum: quorum plures captivantur
cum eorum navibus in Angliam; sed eorum victualia ad
Harflut transmittuntur.

Rex Romanorum predictus, in suo recessu ab Anglia,
propriis manibus hujusmodi tenoris mittens sedulas dis-
persit per plateas :—

“Vale et gaude glorioso cum triumpho, o tu felix Anglia
et benedicta,
Quia? quasi angelica natura, laude Christum adorans,
es jure dicta ?.
Hance tibi do laudem, quam recto jure mereris.” ®

Venit eciam in Angliam, pro dicte pacis confirmacione,
dux Holandie; qui et, infecto negocio, cito post intoxicatus
pericius veneno periit.

Anno sequenti parliamentum et convocacio, scilicet anno
Domini millesimo ccece™. xvij?., celebrantur Londoniis ;
ubi eciam in duabus decimis et totidem quintadecimis
clerus collectantur et populus.

Et demum, de mense Maii apud Redyngam unito con-
silio, exiit edictum a Cesare, ut describeretur universus
pecuniosorum orbis ; et sic vocati cistas evacuarunt.

1 que. MS. 2 benedicta. MS.

8 Elmham, “ Liber Metricus,” 1. 925. The words in the second line
should be ‘‘ angelica natura gloriosa laude Jesum adorans,” the initial
letters forming the word “Anglia.” —

ADA DE USK 131

Et sic dominus rex cum magno exercitu in Normanniam
se direxit debellandam ; Iberniensibus primitus de regno
proscriptis. Rex in trancitu suo classem Francie sibi in-
stantem? contrivit ; tamen ad litus maris regis exercitus
ventum prosperum exspectans patriam non modice in
anona depressit.

Scoti in multitudine glomerata sub duce Albanie, ipso-
rum rege in mari prius capto captivo in Anglia existente,
in fugam sunt coacti.

Rex in Normaniam applicans Cadomi, ubi Willelmus
tumulatur conquestor, cum triginta duobus civitatibus,
castris, villis, et fortaliciis, ad australem partem Secane
sibi subjugavit. Sed ad opsidionem Valecie, incuria domini
Talbot, ultra quingentos homines per capitaneum de Chir-
burow interemptos. Normanie spolia per totam Angliam
exponuntur venalia.

Dominus Johannes Oldeastell, hereticus, sacramentum
altaris, Beatam Virginem, et confessionem detestans, et
regem et regnum pervertere sategens, post longum exilium
in Powysya, per ejus dominum, ad sui magnam remunera-
cionem, capitur ; et parliamento ac convocacioni, in quibus
et due decime et quindecime in regis conceduntur sub-
sidium, presentatus, decimo quarto die Decembris ad furcas
cum cathena, post ejus tractum, suspenditur ferrea, ac feroci
igne apposito ad semel et simul crematur, utriusque gladii
penam merito persolvens.

Post triginta annorum sisma Christianitatis orbem, ali-
quando quatuor, aliquando tribus, aliquando duobus mon-
struose et dolenter presedentibus, disturbans, per omnes
cardinales et nacionum procuratores Odo de Columpnis,
nobilis Romanus et Gybylinus, tituli sancti Georgii ad
velabrum? diaconus cardinalis, in festo Sancti Martini,
inde et Martinus quintus dictus, unanimiter et miraculose,
Spiritus Sancti instinctu, in papam eligitur.

In dicta convocacione ultima ad promocionem gradua-

1 insiandem. MS. 2 velum aureum. MS.
KS

A.D, 1417,

A.D. 1417.

A.D. 1419.

A.D. 1420,

A.D. 1421.

132 CHRONICON

torum spirituales sub Henrico Chycheley, archiepiscopo
Cantuariensi, onerantur? patroni; quiet tunc eciam magis-
trum Johannem Chaundeler, Sarisburiensem, et, modicum
ante, magistrum Edmundum Lacy, Herfordensem, ubi et
responsalis fui, electos, primitus per eum confirmatos, et
consecravit episcopos.

Rex cum juventute patrie ac sue fortitudine milicie in
Normanniam rediit ; ac magnam civitatem Rothomagencem
cum tota patria, miseris Gallicis sibi resistere non audenti-
bus, civium vita pro 1, milibus libris auri redempta, xix®.
die Januarii, post laboriosas obsidiones et multos insultus,
quam victoriose sibi subjugavit. Unde et Londoniis exulta-
cionis cum tripidio solempnes processiones cleri et populi,
a feretro sancti Erkenwaldi ad feretrum sancti Edwardi,
[non] una vice sed omni die Mercurii et Veneris, per totam
civitatem facte fuerant.

Item, dominus rex, cum juventute patrie, militariter et
gloriose in Franciam ad ipsam subjugandam se direxit;
quam infra biennium, cum villis, castris, et municionibus
quibuscumque, sibi subegit. Regem eciam et reginam, ac
eorum filiam Katerinam, in uxorem sibi applicandam, et
regnum post mortem patris, et omnes magnates regni sue
subjecit dicioni. Unde heredem et regentem Francie in
suis se scribit literis. Ac inde, cum eadem uxore sua,
in Angliam pro ejus coronacione reversus, fratrem suum,
ducem Clarencie, sui in Francia locumtenentem dimisit.
Set langor stomagi perturbat negotium ; quia quidam repu-
tatus filius regis Francie putativus, Dolfinus nominatus,
et per reginam partus suppositus diffamatus, partem pro
jure suo faciens, comites de Pentever et Armanak et non-
nullos Scotos sibi aliciens, in vigilia Pasce, anno Domini
M™°, eccc™. vicesimo, xxiij°®. die Marcii contingente, dictum
ducem, cum sua falerata et armata comitiva, comitibus
scilicet de Suthfolkia, Somerset, Huntindona, Kyme et
Tangervile et aliis multis nobilibus, subito insultu, ad

1 honorantur. MS.

i er

ADA DE USK 133

magnum dolorem Anglie, cede magna trusidavit, Quam
cedem comes Sarisburie, cum suis complicibus, pro custodia
patrie dimissus, ferro et flamma crudeliter vindicavit et
vindicat. Et, quam vindictam augmentaturus, dominus
rex, quoscumque pecuniosos divites et pauperes per totum
regnum dilaniando, fortissime in Franciam redire disponit.
Sed, heu me!, valide persone et regni peccunie circa hoc
negocium dilabuntur miserime. Et nemirum exaccionibus
populi importabilibus hoc exigentibus, cum murmure et
oculta maladiccione sed interna sequentibus et excessum
detestantibus, utinam non sit! dominus meus suppremus
gladii furoris Domini, cum Julio, cum Assuro, cum Alex-
andro, cum Ectore, cum Siro, cum Dario, cum Machabeo,
finaliter particeps! Inde videat lector decretum xxiij. in
questione quinta: “ Remittuntur eis.”?....

1 scit. MS.
2 Decret. II., caus. xxiij., quest. v.,c. xlix. The MS. ends with a
few meaningless letters, as if the scribe could not read what he was

copying.

A.D. 1421.

THE CHRONICLE

OF

ADAM OF USK

THE CHRONICLE

Or

ADAM OF USK

Our gracious king Edward departing this life on the eve A.D. 1377.
of the Nativity of Saint John Baptist}, in the fifty-second
year of his reign, Richard, son of Edward, prince of Wales,
the eldest son of king Edward—a boy of eleven years, and
fair among men as another Absalom—came to the throne,
and was crowned at Westminster on Saint Kenelm’s day ”.
During this king Richard’s reign great things were looked
for. But he being of tender years, others, who had the care
of him and his kingdom, did not cease to inflict on the
land acts of wantonness, extortions, and unbearable wrongs.
Whence sprang that unnatural deed, when the commons of A.D. 1381.
the land, and specially those of Kent and Essex, under their
wretched leader Jack Straw °, declaring that they could no
longer bear such wrongs, and above all wrongs of taxes and
subsidies, rose in overwhelming numbers against the lords
and the king’s officers, and, marching to London on the eve
of Corpus Christi (12th June), in the year of Our Lord

1 This date is not correct. Edward III. died on the Sunday next
before the feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, the 21st of
June, 1877, not on the eve of the feast, the 23rd of the month; and
in the fifty-first, not the fifty-second, year of his reign.

2 More correctly, the eve of St. Kenelm, the 16th July.

® Wat Tyler is quite lost sight of. Knighton (Rolls series, ij. 137),
in like manner, confuses the two men: “ ductor eorum proprio nomine
Watte Tyler, sed jam nomine mutato vocatus est Jakke Strawe.”

A.D. 1881.

138 THE CHRONICLE OF

1381, struck off the heads of Simon Sudbury, archbishop
of Canterbury, then the king’s chancellor, sir Robert Hales,
the treasurer, and many others, hard by the Tower of
London. And on the places where these lords were be-
headed there are set up to this day two marble crosses,
a lasting memorial of so monstrous a deed.

In this rising of the commons were many great men of
the land in many places beheaded. The Savoy, the palace
of the duke of Lancaster and the fairest in the kingdom,
standing near London on the bank of Thames, was, from
the commons’ hatred of the duke, utterly destroyed by them
with fire; and the duke himself, for fear of them, fled into

Scotland’. To appease them and to quiet their fury, the

king granted that the state of villeinage, as well in their
persons as in their labour, should be henceforth done away,
freedom fully given, and all prisoners set at large. And
this he commanded and made to be openly proclaimed
throughout the counties of the kingdom. And then what
a throe of grief passed through the desolated land! For
they boasted that they would slay all those of higher birth,
would raise up king and lords from among themselves, would
stablish new laws, and, in a word, would make new, or rather

- disfigure, the face and estate of the whole island. Then

every man struck off the head of his enemy, and despoiled
his richer neighbour. But, by the mercy of God, when
their leader, being in Smithfield near London, doffed not
his hood before the king nor in anything did reverence to
the king’s majesty, his head was deftly struck off, in the
very midst of his flock of kites, by sir William Walworth,

1 John of Gaunt was at this time in the north, negotiating a truce
with Scotland. Knighton (ij. 143-7) tells us that so unpopular was
his name that his duchess was refused admission into his own castle
at Pontefract, and that he himself was denied hospitality by the earl
of Northumberland; and that it was reported that a large force of
the insurgents was sent north in pursuit of him. He retired to
Edinburgh on a safe-conduct from the Scots, by whom he was well
entertained.

ADAM OF USK 139

knight and citizen of London; and straightway, being
raised on the point of a sword, it was shown before them.
Then the commons in sore dread sought flight by stealth,
and there and then casting away their rebellious weapons,
as though unguilty of such riot and wickedness, like foxes
into their holes, they pitifully crept home. But the king and
the lords pursued them, and some they made to be dragged
behind horses, some they slew with the sword, some they
hanged on the gallows, some they quartered; and they
destroyed thousands '.

In this same year there came into England one Pileus ?,
cardinal priest of Saint Praxedes, to treat, on behalf of
the emperor of Germany and king of Bohemia, with the
council of England of and about a marriage between our
king and the lady Ann, sister of the same emperor*; who
afterwards became thereby our most gracious queen, howbeit
she died without issue. At his coming, this cardinal,
falsely feigning himself legate a latere and as having the
power of the pope, then did exercise the papal offices.
And among other things he made me notary, though to no

1 The severity of the punishments inflicted after the suppression of
the outbreak is fully set forth in the pages of Walsingham’s History.
Richard, however, interfered to prevent indiscriminate slaughter of
the insurgents when first beaten in the field.— Wals. Hist. Angl. (Rolls
series), i. 466.

2 Pileo di Prata, bishop of Padua, and, in 1370, archbishop of
Ravenna. He was one of the papal legates employed, at Bruges, in
negotiating a peace between England and France, in 1375. At the
papal schism, in 1378, he threw in his lot with Urban VI., by whom
he was made cardinal, and was sent nuncio to Germany. In 1386, he
seceded to Clement VII., who employed him in an unsuccessful attempt
to break the power of Urban in Florence. But three years after, on
the death of Urban, he deserted Clement for Boniface IX., who made
him cardinal bishop of Tusculum. By these agile changes he got the
nickname of ‘“Cardinalis trium Pileorum,” the Cardinal of Three
Hats. He was further appointed legate at Viterbo; but he exas-
perated the people to such a degree that they drove him out. He
died in 1401.—Ciaconius, Vite Pont. Rom. ij. 637.

5 Wenceslaus, or Wenzel, emperor of Germany, 1378.

A.D. 1881.

A.D. 1881.

A.D. 1882.

140 THE CHRONICLE OF

purpose, in the house of the friars preachers of London,
where he was then dwelling. Thus did he gather to
himself countless money, and, the treaty of marriage being
settled, he departed from England with his gains, to his
own condemnation; idly trusting that the pope would
approve these his acts. And, after his departure, the said
lady Ann was bought for a great price by our lord the
king, for she was much sought in marriage by the king of
France; and she was then sent over into England to be
crowned queen.

According to the saying of Solomon: “ Woe to thee, O
land, when thy king is a child,” ? in the time of the youth
of the same Richard many misfortunes, both caused thereby
and happening therefrom, ceased not to harass the kingdom
of England, as has been before said and as will hereinafter
more fully appear, even to the great disorder of the state
and to the last undoing of king Richard himself and of
those who too fondly clung to him. Amongst all other
misfortunes, nay, amongst the most wicked of all wicked
things, even errors and heresies in the catholic faith,
England, and above all London and Bristol ®, stood corrupted,
being infected by the seeds which one master John Wycliffe

1 This is not stated by the other chroniclers. The idea was no
doubt suggested by the intention of the king of France, Charles V.,
to waylay and capture her on the sea, out of hostility to England.
He desisted on the remonstrance of Ann's uncle, the duke of Brabant.
Ann landed in England on the 18th December, 1381, and was
married on the 14th January, 1382. Knighton (ij. 150) says :—

_ “dedit imperatori, ut dicebatur, pro maritagio decem mille libras,

preter alias expensas in querendo eam et adducendo eam sumptibus
suis propriis.”

2 Kecles. x. 16.

8 Adam of Usk, as a native of Monmouthshire, would naturally take
an interest in what went on in the neighbouring city of Bristol.
John Purvey, Wycliffe’s follower and part-translator of the Bible,
preached there; and it is not improbable that Wycliffe himself also
did so, as, in 1875, he was presented by Edward III. to the prebend of
Aust, in the collegiate church of Westbury-on-Trym.—Seyer, Memoirs
of Bristol, ij. 164.

ee ee ee ee

—o

ADAM OF USK 141

sowed, polluting as it were the faith with the tares of his
baleful teaching. And the followers of this master John,
like Mahomet, by preaching things pleasing to the powerful
and the rich, namely, that the withholding of tithes and
even of offerings and the reaving of temporal goods from
the clergy were praiseworthy, and, to the young, that
self-indulgence was a virtue, most wickedly did sow the
seed of murder, snares, strife, variance, and discords, which
last unto this day, and which, I fear, will last even to the
undoing of the kingdom. Whence, in many parts of the
land, and above all in London and in Bristol, they, like
the Jews at Mount Horeb on account of the molten calf
(Exodus xxxij.), turning against each other, righteously
had to grieve for three-and-twenty thousand of their fellows

who suffered a miserable fate’. The people of England,

wrangling about the old faith and the new, are every day,
as it were, on the very point of bringing down upon their
own heads rebellion and ruin. And I fear that in the end
it will happen as once it did, when many citizens of London
true to the faith rose against the duke of Lancaster to slay
him, because he favoured the said master John, so that,
hurrying from his table into a boat hastily provided, he
fled across Thames and hardly escaped with his life*. Such
errors and heresies grew in the city of London to so great
a height (seeing that from such cause spring strife and
variance), that, when such as were accused thereof came
to answer before their ordinaries, the people were wont

1 The round number of 23,000 may be intended to represent the
total of sufferers down to the time when the chronicle was finished,
that is, towards the close of the reign of Henry V.

2 In February, 13877, when Wycliffe appeared in St. Paul’s to answer
the charges brought against him. A quarrel arising between the
duke of Lancaster, who was present as a supporter of Wycliffe, and
William Courtenay, bishop of London, the duke made use of violent
language, which roused the anger of the Londoners, who attacked
the Savoy and would have done the duke mischief, had he not

escaped by boat on the Thames.— Walsingham, Hist. i. 8325; Archeo-
log. xxij. 256; Chronicon Anglie, 13828-1388 (Rolls series), 119, 397.

A.D. 1882.

p. 4.

A.D. 1382.

A.D. 1386.

142 THE CHRONICLE OF

to run together in thousands, some accusing, others defend-
ing, them, with clamour and strife, as if they were just
rushing at each other’s throats'. So great, too, grew their
malice, that, at the time of the second parliament of king
Henry the fifth, hereinafter written, these Lollards, flocking
to London from all parts of the land, thought to have
utterly destroyed the clergy there at that time assembled *.
But my lord of Canterbury, forewarned of their evil design,
found fitting remedies, as will hereinafter be told.

Owing to the many ill-starred crises of king Richard’s
reign, which were caused by his youth, a solemn parliament
was holden at Westminster, wherein twelve of the chief
men of the land were advanced, by full provision of par-
liament, to the government of the king and the kingdom,
in order to bridle the wantonness and extravagance of his
servants and flatterers, and, in short, to reform the business
of the realm; but alas! only to lead to the weary deeds
which are hereinafter written °.

1 Compare the passage in Walsingham: “Insuper nec illud esse

silendum estimo, cum episcopi predicti cum isto schismatico in
capella archiepiscopi apud Lambhith convenissent, non dico cives
tantum Londonienses, sed viles ipsius civitatis, se impudenter ingerere
presumpserunt in eandem capellam, et verba facere pro eodem, et
istud negotium impedire.”—Hist, Angl. i. 356, ij. 65.
2 The MS. reads “Henrici quarti,” but this is a clerical blunder,
The gathering in St. Giles’s-fields, under sir John Oldcastle, is referred
to. But Adam is not accurate: the actual date of the rising was in
January, while Henry the fifth’s second parliament, which was held
at Leicester, did not meet till April, 1414. See below, p. 300.

8 The actual number of the commissioners appointed by the Won-
derful Parliament of 1386 was eleven, or fourteen if the three principal
officers of state be included. The eleven were: the archbishops of
Canterbury and York, the dukes of York and Gloucester, the bishops
of Winchester and Exeter, the abbot of Waltham, the earl of Arundel,
John de Cobham, Richard le Scrope, and John Devereux. Thomas
Arundel, bishop of Ely, had replaced Michael de la Pole, earl of
Suffolk, as chancellor; John Gilbert, bishop of Hereford, was treasurer ;
and John de Waltham, keeper of the privy seal. It will be remem-
bered that John of Gaunt was at this time in Spain, as a reason for
his name not appearing on the commission.

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ADAM OF USK 143

The king, bearing it ill that by this appointment the due
freedom of his majesty should be bridled by his own lieges,
and urged by his servants who were angered that their evil
gains were thereby prevented, ceased not to thwart those
who were thus set in authority, till the end came in the
destruction of the king himself, his abettors, and many of
these same rulers, And from thence alas! what griefs
and weary deeds followed, and specially concerning the
death of those nobles, the duke of Gloucester and the earl
of Arundel, it will appear more fully hereafter. To proceed :
those who thus urged on the king, in order to the sudden
suppression of the twelve rulers, planned that a general
council should be holden in the Tower of London, wherein
they thought suddenly and at one blow, by means of an
ambush of armed men, to destroy the twelve when
summoned to, the council. But the Almighty disposed
the twelve, being forewarned of that wicked design, to
come in such strength that the king and his abettors,
disordered by their warlike preparation, feared that the
kingdom would rise in their favour. Wherefore a peace
was made, though a hollow one. Hearing this, our lady
the princess, the mother of the king, with heavy grief in
her heart, and not sparing to toil on even by night, hastened
from Wallingford to London, to allay the discord. And
on her knees she prayed the king, her son, as he looked for
her blessing, in no wise to bend to the wishes of flatterers,
and specially of those who were now urging him on; other-
wise he would bring down her curse upon him. But the
king with reverence raised her up and promised that he
would willingly be guided by the counsel of the twelve.
To whom his mother replied: “ At thy coronation, my son,
I rejoiced that it had fallen to my lot to be the mother of
an anointed king; but now I grieve, for I foresee the fall
which threatens thee, the work of accursed flatterers.”
Then the king passed with his mother to Westminster Hall,
and there, seated on his throne of state, by her mediation,

A.D, 1387,

A.D. 1387,

144, THE CHRONICLE OF

made his peace with the twelve guardians; yet did he it
falsely and with deceit 1. |
Soon afterwards, the earl of Oxford? went with royal

letters into the county of Chester, and led back with him

a great armed power of the men of those parts, for the
destruction of the twelve. But the duke of Gloucester and

1 Adam has here mixed up several events in confusion. He tells us
further on that we must not read this earlier part of his chronicle as
consecutive history; and the hint is wanted nowhere more than in
this his account of Richard’s attempt to cast off the thraldom in
which the Wonderful Parliament had placed him. The stories of
plots laid by Richard for the destruction of his enemies are so many,
and told in so many different ways in the chronieles, that some con-
fusion in the mind of the writer may be pardoned. Knighton (ij. 216)
first reports the rumour that the king, who had retired to Eltham on
the meeting of the parliament, in 1386, designed to assassinate
a deputation of forty of the members whom he had summoned to
appear before him. Walsingham (ij. 150) records a plot to invite the
duke of Gloucester and the parliamentary opponents of the earl of
Suffolk to a banquet in the city, and there slay them. The Monk
of Evesham (75) repeats this story, adding, ‘Michael statuit (ne
dicam, hoc esse regis commentum).” The commons themselves, in
their petition against the duke of Ireland’s party, refer to some such
design, saying that the traitors “‘firent que nostre seigneur le Roi
commanda a Meire de Loundre de faire sudeinement lever un graunt
poare de gentz de Loundre, d’occire et mettre au mort touz les ditz
seigneurs et communs horpris ceux qui furrunt de lour coveine”
(Rot. Parl. iij. 231, art. 15). Again, in 1387, after the council of
Nottingham, when the revolted lords were invited by Richard to
a conference at Westminster, they advanced with extreme caution
on the report of an ambush in the Mews (Wals. ij. 165; Mon.
Evesh. 91; Knighton, ij. 248). Unfortunately for the story of the
intervention of the princess of Wales, that lady had already died in
1385. However, the fact remains that, not long before her death, she
did undertake a fatiguing journey to reconcile Richard with his uncle,
the duke of Lancaster; though the words which are placed in her
mouth by our chronicler are not recorded elsewhere (Wals. ij. 126;
Mon. Evesh. 60).

2 Robert de Vere, earl of Oxford, created successively marquess of
Dublin and duke of Ireland. He was killed while hunting at Louvain,
in 1392. Richard had his body brought to England, and opened the
coffin in order to gaze upon the dead features of his favourite. The
earl was buried with great honours at Colne priory in Essex.

ADAM OF USK 145

the earls of Derby, Arundel, Nottingham, and Warwick,
were forewarned thereof, and arrayed in a glorious host,
before the men of Chester could reach the king, they routed
the earl’s army on the eve of Saint Thomas the Apostle
(20th December), at Radcot-bridge in Oxfordshire. And
the earl himself they drove in flight beyond hope of
return; for he died beyond seas. Then, too, fled before the
face of the lords Alexander Nevill, archbishop of York, and
the lord Michael de la Pole, earl of Suffolk, the king’s chief
councillors ; and they came not back, but died in exile’.

At that time, I, the writer of this chronicle, was at
Oxford, an “extraordinary” in canon law, and I saw the
host of the five lords march through the city on their way
to London from the battle-field; whereof the earls of
Warwick and Derby led the van, the duke of Gloucester
the main body, and the earls of Arundel and Nottingham
the rear.

The mayor of London, hearing of their coming, sent forth
to them the keys of the city; and thereafter those same
five lords did, on the feast of Saint John the Evangelist
(27th December), blockade the Tower? of London till it
yielded; then straightway they placed the king, who lay
therein, under new governance, and delivered his fawning
councillors into divers prisons until the next following
parliament”. On the morrow of the Purification of Our

1 Alexander Nevill, archbishop of York, on his attainder, was trans-
lated by pope Urban to the see of St. Andrew’s. This dignity was,
however, worth no more than a bishopric in partibus, as Scotland
followed Clement VII. The archbishop showed his wisdom by retiring
to a small cure at Louvain, where he died in 1392.

Suffolk went first to Holland, but was afterwards invited to Paris,
where he died in 13889. Walsingham (ij. 187) cannot find words bad
enough for this able minister of Richard II. A good sketch of his
administration, viewed in a favourable light, will be found in the
work of M. Wallon, Richard IT. (Paris, 1864).

* The confederate lords entered London on the 26th December, and
immediately invested the Tower. Richard submitted, and summoned
parliament to meet on the 3rd February,

L

A.D, 1387.

p. 6.

A.D. 1888.

A.D, 1388,

A.D. 1383.
p. 7.

146 THE CHRONICLE OF

Lady (3rd February), they declared exiles those who had
fled, and they banished into Ireland all the king’s justices, for
that they had knowledge of the imagining of the death of
the lords, as above written, and also the king’s confessor,
the bishop of Chichester’. Others who had wrongfully
fostered the king’s unruliness, if not the causers thereof,
namely, sir Simon Burley, chamberlain, sir Robert Tresilian,
chief justice, Nicholas Brembre, mayor of London, sir John
Berners and sir John Salisbury, knights, and Thomas Usk
and John Blake, esquires, and very many others were
beheaded *.

In this king’s reign, on account of the papal schism, the
bishop of Norwich ® crossed over into’ Flanders with a

1 The judges who had taken a part in the council of Nottingham
were—sir Robert de Belknap, chief justice of the Common Pleas; sir
Robert de Fulthorp, sir John Holt, and sir William Burgh, puisne
judges of the same; sir John Cary, junior baron of the Exchequer ;
and with them, John Lokton, serjeant-at-law. Belknap and Holt were
banished to Drogheda, Fulthorp and Burgh to Dublin, Cary and
Lokton to Waterford. Thomas Rushook, bishop of Chichester and the
king's confessor, was sent to Cork.—Rymer, Federa, 8th and 13th
July, 1388.

2 The execution of sir Simon Burley, the retainer of the Black
Prince and Richard’s tutor, which was carried out in spite of
all the king’s efforts to save him, made an impression on Richard’s
mind which goes far to account for the fierceness with which he
attacked his enemies in the parliament of 1397. Berners and
Salisbury (as well as sir John Beauchamp, who was also executed)
were of the royal household. Thomas Usk had been appointed under-
sheriff of Middlesex, with the view of influencing the elections to
parliament; and John Blake had been commissioned to draw the bill
of indictment which Richard, had he not been forestalled, would have
brought forward against the confederate lords, in 1387, after the
council of Nottingham. Usk has recently risen into a more interest-
ing position than that which he holds in history, having been
identified as the author of “The Testament of Love,” a work which
has been wrongly attributed to Chaucer. (Dict. Nat. Biogr. lviij. 60;
Skeat, Chaucerian and other Pieces, 1897.)

8 Henry Spencer or Despencer, the warlike bishop of Norwich,
had fought in his youth for pope Adrian against Bernabo Visconti of
Milan, and received for his reward the see of Norwich in 1370. But
“vulpis pilum mutat, non animum,” and the bishop did not lose his

ADAM OF USK 147

crusade, and there he destroyed in warfare some nine
thousand men of that land who sided with the French
heretics; but he was forced to withdraw thence and to
return to his own country by the power of the king of
Franee and his army, many of the English then dying of
the flux.

The duke of Lancaster also, claiming the kingdom of
Spain in right of his wife, sailed to that country two years
after, with another crusade; and there he lost by the same
sickness many of the nobles of the realm of England, and,
I may say, the flower of its youthful chivalry. Yet he
made peace with the king of Spain, receiving a duchy for
the term of his life, and a large sum of gold for his outlay,
and giving his daughter in marriage to the king’s eldest
son; and so he returned to England ',

In these days there happened at Oxford a grave mis-
fortune. For, during two whole years was there great
strife between the men of the south and the men of Wales
on the one side and the northerners on the other. Whence
arose broils, quarrels, and ofttimes loss of life. In the first
year the northerners were driven clean away from the
university. And they laid their expulsion chiefly to my
charge. But in the second year, in an evil hour, coming
back to Oxford, they gathered by night, and denying us
passage from our quarters by force of arms, for two days
they strove sorely against us, breaking and plundering
some of the halls of our side, and slaying certain of our
men. Howbeit, on the third day our party, bravely

taste for fighting. He was distinguished at the time of Wat Tyler's
rebellion for the vigour with which he repressed the uprising in
his diocese: defeating, shriving, and executing the rebels with great
zeal. His crusade in Flanders got him into trouble, for he had to pay
the penalty of failure by the loss of his temporalities, which were,
however, afterwards restored.—Godwin, De Presul. Angl.

? There is no mention of the duchy in the other chronicles. By the
terms of the treaty, Catherine of Lancaster married Henry, prince of
the Asturias, in 1393. The duke received the sum of 200,000 crowns
and a pension for the lives of himself and his duchess,

L 2

A.D, 1383.

A.D. 1886
-1388.

A.D. 1388,
1389.

A.D, 1888,
1389.

p. 8.

A.D, 1879.

148 THE CHRONICLE OF

strengthened by the help of Merton Hall, forced our
adversaries shamefully to fly from the public streets, which
for the two days they had held as a camp, and to take
refuge in their own quarters. In short, we could not be
quieted before many of our number had been indicted for
felonious riot; and amongst them I, who am now writing,
was indicted, as the chief leader and abettor of the Welsh,
and perhaps not unrighteously. And so indicted we were
hardly acquitted, being tried by jury before the king’s
judge*. From that day forth I feared the king, hitherto
unknown to me in his power, and his laws, and I put
hooks into my jaws *.

Again, another misfortune happened. For that noble
knight, sir John Arundel, being sent forth against the land

? Anthony Wood, following the account given by Knighton, says :—
“On the third of the Cal. of May (1388), arose a grievous discord
among the scholars of Oxon, that is to say between the southern and
Welsh on the one part, and the northern scholars on the other, and in
very short time did it so much increase that the scholars for the most
part (after several had been slain) departed to their respective
counties.” And again, under the year 1389, he tells us of a second
outbreak of the rioting, in Lent, which was quelled by the intervention
of the duke of Gloucester. ‘‘ But,” he continues, “you shall have
from a certain inquisition taken by a jury that was appointed on
purpose to take an account of the matter : —On Thursday in the fourth
week of Lent, 12 Rich. II. (which is this year), Thomas Speeke,
chaplain, and John Kirkby with a multitude of other malefactors,
appointing captains among them, rose up against the peace of the
king, and sought after all the Welshmen abiding and studying in
Oxford, shooting arrows after them in divers streets and lanes as they
went, crying out ‘ War, war, war, sle, sle, sle the Welsh doggys and
her whelpys, and ho so loketh out of his howse, he shall in good southe
be dead,’ &c., and certain persons they slew and others they grievously
wounded, and some of the Welshmen who bowed their knees to abjure
the town, they the northern scholars led to the gates,” and dismissed
them with certain indignities not to be repeated to ears polite. The
inquisition further gives the names of the different halls which were
broken into, and of the Welsh scholars who were robbed of their
books and other chattels, including in some instances their harps.—
Hist. and Antigg. of the Univ. of Ouford (ed. Gutch, 1792-6) i., 518.

® Ezek, xxix, 4; xxxviij. 4.

ADAM OF USK 149

of France to subdue it, with the flower of the youth of the
country, had his fleet shattered alas! by an unhappy storm
on Saint Nicholas’ eve (5th December), and perished!. The
cause of his mischance was not unrighteously found in the
taxes wrung from the clergy and the people.

Ever from the time of such levying of tribute, called tax,
do I remember the kingdom to have suffered misfortunes
either from internal slaughter or foreign treachery.* Was
it not so when the earl of Pembroke, carrying with him
the tax levied to subdue France, was plundered with his
men near Rochelle, and carried captive into Spain? The
same befell king Edward, who, after taxing the clergy and
the people, strove to invade France with a mighty host;
but the winds were against him, and, though for six months
long he lay near the shore awaiting: their favour, he

A.D. 1879.

A.D. 1872.

returned unprofitably with his army, as is told above in |

this volume *. See what says the prophecy of Bridlington
against the tax :—

“While reigneth tax, large grace shall not abound ;
So work begun shall foolish fall to ground.” ®

And thus alas! it is known to fall. Further, there fled
before the face of this king Richard that most perfect man,

1 Sir John Arundel, of Lanherne, was in command of an expedition
in aid of the duke of Brittany, and repulsed the French fleet off the
coast of Cornwall. He was afterwards wrecked and drowned on the
Irish coast. Walsingham (i. 418-25) attributes the disaster to divine
vengeance for an outrage on a nunnery at Southampton. Arundel
appears to have been one of the fops of the period. In his ship
were fifty-two suits of clothes: “pro proprio corpore novos apparatus,
vel aureos vel auro textos.”

2 The passage in the “‘ Polychronicon” here referred to, is as follows:
—‘“Eodem anno, rex Edwardus cum magno exercitu mare intravit,
ad removendum obsidionem de Rochell; sed ventus contrarius non
permisit eum longius a terra recedere. Quare aliquamdiu prope litus
maris commorans ventum prosperum expectavit ; sed nondum venit.
Demum cum suis ad terram veniens, illico ventus ad partes oppositas
se convertit.”” Walsingham (i. 315) has nearly the same words.

5 The prophecy of John of Bridlington is a political review of the
reign of Edward III., compiled in the form of an ancient text with

A.D. 1885.

A.D. 13865.

A.D. 1894.
p. 9.

150 THE CHRONICLE OF

William Courtney, archbishop of Canterbury, for that he
was ready to stand up against such tax; and, pursued on
Thames by the same king, he fled for his life in the garb of
a monk, and sought safety in the parts of Devon!. Yet did
they who were the movers of this persecution by the king
die an evil death, of whom we have heard above, to wit
sir Simon Burley and others.

Thus far, good reader, set not in order of years such
things as have been told; for what I saw and heard I stored
up in my memory, rather with regard to the truth of the
event than to the time when it took place.

In the year of our Lord 1394, on Whitsun-day (7th June),
died that most gracious lady Ann, queen of England, at the

a recent commentary. The author was supposed to have been John,
prior of Bridlington, who died early in the reign of Richard II. In
some MSS. the work is ascribed to John Ergome; but who he was
does not appear. It is dedicated to Humphrey de Bohun, earl of
Hereford and constable of England, 1361-1372, and was probably
written about the year 1370. Its popularity is shown by the fre-
quency of quotations from it by the writers of the fifteenth century,
among whom Adam of Usk is not the most backward. As a specimen
of the work: the passage quoted above, which more correctly is
“Dum multat taxa non fiet gratia laxa. Sic opus inceptum laxum
patietur ineptum ” (dist. iij. cap. 2), has this commentary—“ Dum
multat taxa, id est, dum recipit taxam et exactiones de regno, gratia
non fiet laxa sibi et larga, sed deficiet, et sic opus inceptum et laxum
quod fuit de captione regis Francie, quando nos habuimus inceptionem
et latam viam ad conquerendum regnum Francie, patietur ineptum,
id est, deficiet seu destruetur.”—T. Wright, Political Poems and Songs
(Rolls series), i. 183.

1 William Courtenay, successively bishop of Hereford and London,
and archbishop of Canterbury, was son of Hugh, earl of Devon.
Walsingham, under the year 1385, tells us of the archbishop’s opposi-
tion to a tax being imposed upon the clergy; but on this occasion
the king acted with him as against the designs of the nobles upon
the possessions of the church. Earlier in the year, however, there
was a quarrel between the king and archbishop, according to Wal-

' singham, “ ob leves occasiones ” (ij. 128), when the latter was threatened

with deprivation of temporalities. The Monk of Evesham (57)
gives as the cause of his disgrace the king’s anger at his remonstrance
against bad government, and adds that the archbishop had to hide
himself. Has our chronicler confused the two events ?

ADAM OF USK 151

tnanor of Shene, which lies on Thames near to Brentford.
Which manor, though a royal one and very fair, did king
Richard, by reason that that lady’s death happened therein,
command and cause to be utterly destroyed. After the
ceremony of her funeral, which was carried out with
becoming honours on the morrow of Saint Peter ad Vincula
(2nd August), the king, clad, with his train, in weeds
of mourning, straightway passed over into Ireland with
& great power, to subdue the rebellion of the Irish’. Yet
he gained but little; for the Irish, then feigning submission
to his will, straightway after his departure were in revolt,
as all men know.

The next year, at the end of May, the king returned to
England, landing at Bristol; and forthwith he sent envoys
into France to contract his second marriage, of which more
anon. And so, a matter for wonder, he took to wife a child
hot yet seven years old, rejecting the daughter and heiress
of the king of Aragon, though very fair and of marriageable
years’, But why he chose this young child,—and though
a child she was married to him at Calais with much outlay
of money and show—they say was that, eager to pour forth
his pent-up venom, he thought by help and favour of the
king of France to destroy his enemies. Yet this in the
end turned to the ruin of himself and his confederates, as
will afterwards appear °.

1 Richard sailed for Iréland early in September, 1394, and returned
in May of the next year.

2 The actual age of Isabella of France was eight years. The
marriage took place at Calais, on the Ist November, 1396. The
daughter of the king of Aragon, referred to above, appears to have
been Yolande, daughter of John I. Shé married, in 1400, Louis IL,
titular king of Naples and count of Provence, and thus became
grandmother to Margaret of Anjou, the wife of Henry VI.

8 The surrender by Richard, in 1393 and 1397, of Cherbourg and
Brest, which were held in pawn of the king of Navarre and duke of
Brittany, was most distasteful to the English. Men recalled the
conquests of Edward III. and their speedy loss, and had come to look
upon even the givitig up of towns held in pledge as a national wrong.
This, added to the French marriage, gave rise to various rumours of

A.D. 1394.

A.D, 1895.

A.D, 1396.

A.D. 1897.

152 THE CHRONICLE OF

A parliament was holden in London, at Westminster, on
Saint Lambert’s day (17th September), a Monday, in the
year of our Lord 1897; in which parliament I, the writer
of this chronicle, was present every day?.

In the first place, a speech, in the form of a sermon”, was
made by Edmund Stafford, bishop of Exeter, then chan-
cellor, wherein he kept his discourse to the one point:
that the power of the king lay singly and wholly in the
king, and that they who usurped or plotted against it were
worthy of the penalties of the law. Wherefore, to this end
was it ordained of parliament: first, to enquire after those
who molest the power of the king and his royalty; secondly,
what penalties such molesters shall receive; thirdly, that
things be so ordered that henceforth such molesting do not
ensue. And straightway the king bade the commons that
then and there, before their departure, they agree upon a
speaker, and present him on the morrow, at eight of the
clock. The king also made proclaim his grace to all who
might be among the aforesaid offenders, only excepting
fifty * persons and certain others to be impeached in this
parliament, provided that they sued out in effect their

Richard’s designs in favour of the French: among others, that Calais,
too, was to be handed over to them. See the story of Richard’s
quarrel, on this score, with the duke of Gloucester, as told in the
Chronique de la Tratson et Mort de Richart II., ed. B. Williams (English
Hist. Soc.), 1846.

1 It will be seen that the account of the proceedings of the parlia-
ment as given by our author is nearly the same as that found in the
pages of the Monk of Evesham. One or two passages are given more
correctly in this text. Whether the one copied from the other, or
both from the same source, is not very material. But it is of im-
portance to notice that Adam was present during the session, and
that therefore the story which he tells may be looked upon as a
true one.

2 The text was from Ezekiel xxxvij. 22, “One king shall be king to
them all.”—Rot. Parl. iij. 347.

5 By a confusion of the abbreviation of 1. for quinquaginta, and
t. for vel, Hearne, in his edition of the Monk of Evesham’s Life of
Richard, has erroneously printed vel in this place. Otterbourne has
the correct reading.

ADAM OF USK 153

letters of pardon before Saint Hilary. He caused, too,
proclamation to be made that no man henceforth carry
arms of offence or defence in parliament, save only our
lord the king’s own retinue.

On the Tuesday (18th September), sir John Bushy ' was
by the commons presented to the king their speaker in
parliament, he making first due declaration ; and the king
accepted him.

Then straightway spake he thus before the king: “In
that, my lord the king, we are bound by your dread com-
mand to make known to your royal highness who they be
who transgressed against your majesty and royalty, we say
that Thomas, duke of Gloucester, and Richard, earl of
Arundel, did, in the tenth year of your reign, traitorously
force you, by means of him who is now archbishop of
Canterbury ?, and who was then chancellor, thereby doing
you grievous wrongs, to grant to them a commission to
govern your kingdom and to order its estate, to the preju-
dice of your majesty and royalty.”

Also, the same day, that same commission was made of
none effect, with all and every the acts thereon depending
or thereby caused.

Also, a general pardon, granted after the great parlia-
ment by their means, and a special pardon granted to the
earl of Arundel were recalled*. It was also prayed by the

1 Bushy had been first elected speaker of the commons in 1394.

-2 Thomas Fitzalan, also called Arundel, was the third son of
Richard, ninth earl of Arundel. He had been made bishop of Ely,
in 1374, when in his twenty-second year, was translated to York in
1388, and to Canterbury in 1396. He was banished by the present
parliament of 1397, and received from the pope translation to the
see of St. Andrew’s in partibus infidelium, the same appointment
which had been conferred upon Alexander Nevill, his predecessor at
York. He was restored to Canterbury on Henry’s accession, and lived
to the year 1413.

8 This special pardon had been granted to the earl of Arundel on
the 30th of April, 13894, and was the more binding on Richard as it

was granted at a time when he was his own master and entirely free
from coercion. F

A.D, 1897.

A.D. 1897,

De i

154 THE CHRONICLE OF

commons, still by the mouth of their speaker, that, whereas
that special pardon had been gotten for a traitor by
Thomas Arundel, archbishop of Canterbury, then chancellor
of England, he, the procurer of the same, who should rather
by virtue of his office have been against it, should be de-
clared a traitor. And the archbishop rose up, wishing to
make answer; but the king said: “To-morrow.” But
thenceforth he appeared not there again. The king also
said, as to this petition, that he would take counsel.

Also, it was decreed that any man henceforth convicted
of acting against the government of our lord the king
should be declared a false traitor, and the fitting punish-
ment of treason be awarded to him. Also, it was decreed,
with assent of the prelates, that criminal charges henceforth
be determined without their agreement, in every parlia-
ment, And then having leave they withdrew.

Then there was, as is wont to be, some bustle. And there-
upon the king’s archers, who, to the number of four thousand,
surrounded the parliament-house, which was set up to this
end in the middle of the palace-yard}, thought that some
quarrel or strife had arisen in the house; and, bending
their bows, they drew their arrows to the ear, to the great
terror of all who were there; but the king quieted them *.

On the Wednesday (19th September), the same statute
of the prelates was repealed; and they were bidden, under
pain of loss of temporalities, to the stablishing of what

1 This parliament was held in a building specially set up for the
purpose. ‘“Fecerat autem rex ante istud parliamentum in medio
palacii apud Westmonasterium, unam aulam inter turrim et hostium
magne aule situatam, ad judicia sua ibidem exercenda. In qua
gloriosius et solemnius sedebat quam unquam aliquis rex istius regni
residere consuevit. Quam quidem aulam mox, finito parliamento,
prosterni fecit et penitus inde asportari.”—Mon. Evesh. 131. See
also an account of the building in Annales Ric. II. printed with the
chronicle of J. de Trokelowe, ed, H. T. Riley (Rolls series), 209;
and in Otterbourne’s Chronicle, 191.

2 The Monk of Evesham (1384) improves upon this account by
adding that the archers began to shoot.

ADAM OF USK 155

should be done in the same parliament, on that very day
to agree upon one who should be their attorney to consent
in their name to all that should be brought to pass in that
parliament.

The king also spake these words: “Sir John Bushy,
forasmuch as many ask me to disclose those fifty persons
who are excepted in the general pardon, I simply will not;
and whosoever asks it is worthy of death’. First, because
they would flee; secondly, because I have also excepted
those who shall be impeached in this parliament; thirdly,
because, by naming them, others, their fellows, would fear,
when there should be no need for fear.”

On the Thursday (20th September), my lord of Canter-
bury came to the palace on his way to parliament ; but the
king sent him word, by the bishop of Carlisle *, that he
should withdraw to his lodging, which was done; and
thenceforth he appeared not.

The prelates made sir Thomas Percy, the king’s seneschal,
their attorney, with clauses of stipulations, to agree to all
that should be done in parliament.

Also, sir John Bushy spake as follows: “My lord the
king, forasmuch as the second article of this parliament
is concerning the pains to be laid on such as do violence
to your royalty, I beseech you that you deign to give me

1 This sentence is given in the Monk of Evesham’s work in a
mutilated form, from which no sense can be extracted.

2 Thomas Merke.

5 Thomas Percy, brother of Henry Percy, earl of Northumberland,
created earl of Worcester at the close of this session, 29th September,
1397. He was born about 1344, and served in the campaigns of
Edward’s and Richard’s reigns, both by land and sea. He became
seneschal of the household in 1893. He was admiral of the fleet for
Ireland in 1399, and accompanied the king thither, and returned with
him to Milford. By some of the chroniclers he is accused of having
then deserted to Henry ; at any rate he was present in the parliament
which approved Richard’s deposition, and was taken into favour by
Henry. He joined the revolt of the Percys, and was beheaded after
the battle of Shrewsbury.

A.D, 1897.

p. 12.

156 THE CHRONICLE OF

A.D. 1397, authority, by way of appeal, accusation, or impeachment,

with leave to change from one to the other, as often as or
whenever it shall unto me seem good and to my fellows.”
And so was it done. Then Bushy spake again: “I accuse
Thomas Arundel, archbishop of Canterbury, of threefold
treason. First, of the commission of government of your
kingdom, treasonably granted to him, to Thomas, duke of
Gloucester, and to Richard, earl of Arundel, at his instance
and through him, who ought rather, by reason of his office,
in that he was at that time your chancellor, to have with-
stood it. Secondly, that under veil of that traitorous com-
mission, treacherously usurping the legal authority of your
royalty, they did treasonably hold a solemn parliament to
the prejudice of your royalty. Thirdly, that by such
treacherous usurpation sir Simon de Burley and sir James
Berners, knights and your faithful lieges, were traitorously
done to death. Wherefore we, your commons, pray that
a fitting judgement for so great treasons be by you issued
against him. And seeing that the same archbishop is a
man of great kindred, alliance, and wealth, and of a most
cunning and cruel nature, I pray, for the salvation of
your estate and of all your realm, as well as for the
despatch of this present parliament, that he be set in safe
keeping until the last fulfilment of his judgement.” The
king thereto answered that, on account of the high station
of so great a person, he would consider till the morrow ;
and he declared all others who were joined in the said
commission to be faithful, loyal, and free from treason,
and specially Alexander Nevill, late archbishop of York.
And then my lord Edmund of Langley, duke of York, the
king’s uncle, and my lord William of Wykeham, bishop of
Winchester, who had been of the commission, shedding
tears, fell on their knees and thanked the king for so great
favour.

Also on the Friday (21st September), which fell on Saint
Matthew’s day, the earls of Rutland, Kent, Huntingdon,

ADAM OF USK 157

Nottingham, Somerset, and Salisbury, the lord Despencer,
and sir William Scrope?, in a suit of red robes of silk,
banded with white silk and powdered with letters of gold,
set forth the appeal which they had already proclaimed
before the king at Nottingham; wherein they accused
Thomas, duke of Gloucester, Richard, earl of Arundel,
Thomas, earl of Warwick, and sir Thomas Mortimer,
knight, of the aforesaid treasons, and also of armed revolt
at Haringhay-park traitorously raised against the king.
And, they having given surety to follow up their appeal,
Richard, earl of Arundel, was put on his trial, clad in
a robe of red with a hood of scarlet. And straightway the
duke of Lancaster said to the lord Nevill: “Take off his
belt and his hood”; and it was done. And when the
articles of accusation were unfolded to the earl, he boldly
declared that he was no traitor and claimed the benefit
of his pardon granted aforetime, declaring that he would
never withdraw him from the king’s grace. But the
duke of Lancaster said to him: “Traitor! that pardon is
recalled.” The earl answered: “ Verily thou liest! never
was I traitor!” Again the duke said: “ Wherefore didst
thou then get the pardon?” And the earl answered: “To
close the mouths of mine enemies, of whom thou art one.
And in truth, as for treasons, thou needest pardon more
than I.” Then said the king to him: “Answer to the
appeal.” The earl replied: “I see well that those persons
accuse me of treason by showing appeals. In sooth they
lie, all of them! Never was I traitor! I claim ever the
_ benefit of my pardon, which, within six years last past,

1 Edward Plantagenet, earl of Rutland, afterwards made duke of
Albemarle or Aumarle, son of the duke of York; Thomas Holland,
earl of Kent, afterwards duke of Surrey; John Holland, earl of
Huntingdon, afterwards duke of Exeter; Thomas Mowbray, earl of
Nottingham, afterwards duke of Norfolk; John Beaufort, earl of
Somerset, afterwards marquess of Dorset; John de Montacute, earl
of Salisbury ; Thomas, baron Despencer, afterwards earl of Gloucester ;
and William le Scrope, afterwards earl of Wiltshire.

A.D. 1397.

A.D, 1397,

p. 14,

158 THE CHRONICLE OF

you, being of full age and of unfettered will, did of your
own motion grant tome.” Then said the king: “I granted
it, saving it were not to my prejudice.” Then said the
duke of Lancaster: “So the grant holds not good.” The
earl replied: “ Surely of that treason I knew no more than
thou who wast then beyond seas.’ Then said sir John
Bushy: “That pardon is recalled by the king, the lords
and us, his faithful commons,” The earl answered : “ Where
be those faithful commons? Well do I know thee and
thy crew there, how ye are gathered together, not to do
faithfully, for the faithful commons are not here. They,
I know, are sore grieved for me; and I know that thou
hast ever been false.” And then Bushy and his fellows
cried out; “See, my lord the king, how this traitor strives
to stir up discord between us and the commons of the land
who abide at home!” The earl answered: “Ye are all
liars! Iam no traitor!” Then rose up the earl of Derby
and said to him: “ Didst thou not say to me at Huntingdon,
where first we were gathered to revolt, that it would be
better first of all to seize the king?” The earl replied:
“ Thou, earl of Derby, thou liest at thy peril! Never had
I thought concerning our lord the king, save what was to
his welfare and honour.” Then said the king to him:
“ Didst thou not say to me, at the time of thy parliament,
in the bath behind the White Hall, that sir Simon Burley, |
my knight, was, for many reasons, worthy of death? And
I answered thee that I knew no cause of death in him.
And then thou and thy fellows did traitorously slay him.”
And then the duke of Lancaster passed sentence of death
upon him in these words: “Richard, I, seneschal of
England, do adjudge thee traitor, and I do by sentence
and judgement condemn thee to be drawn, hanged, beheaded,
and quartered, and thy lands, entailed and unentailed, to
be forfeit.”

Then the king, having regard for his noble birth, com-
manded him to be beheaded only. And there led him

ADAM OF USK 159

away his foes, the earl of Kent, his own nephew, and others
who coveted his lands,—and who were afterwards cut off,
as will appear, by an evil death,—to the Tower Hill; and
there did they behead him?. And with his soul may I be
found worthy to rest in bliss!, for, assuredly, I doubt not
that he is gathered to the company of the saints. As to
his body, though it was then without honour laid in the
church of the Austin friars of London, yet now is it most
gloriously worshipped with deep reverence and with
abounding offerings of the people.

On the Saturday (22nd September), sir Thomas Mortimer
was vouched, under pain of banishment as a traitor, to
appear within six months, to stand his trial, And the
king said; “Perchance the earl of March will not be able
to take him; I will therefore wait until his capture be
certified.’ The which sir Thomas, thus banished, stayed
the time of his banishment in Scotland *.

It was also declared that all benefices granted and trans-
ferred by such persons as had been, or should be, condemned
in this parliament, and all other grants whatsoever made
by them since the tenth year of the king, be recalled.

1 Richard Fitzalan, earl of Arundel, was uncle to the young earl of
Kent, his sister Alice having married Thomas Holland, second earl
of Kent, lately deceased. The earl of Huntingdon is also said
to have been present at the execution, and with him the earl of
Nottingham, earl-marshal, the son-in-law of Arundel, though it seems
that at this time he was at Calais (see Walsingham, ij. 225; Wallon,
Richard IE. ij. 456). However, the common belief that Nottingham
was there appears in some lines of Richard the Redeles (pass. III. 105,
106), a poem written by William Langland in the year 1399 (ed.
W. W. Skeat, Early Engl. Text Soc., 1873), wherein the story told by
Froissart (IV. c. 92), that the earl-marshal actually bandaged his
father-in-law's eyes, seems to be alluded to. Arundel was deservedly
a favourite with the people. He was one of the best sea-captains of
the day, as he proved by his victories in 1387 and 1388.

2 It will be seen, on p. 165, that sir Thomas Mortimer is called the
uncle of the earl of March, If he was so, it must have been by an
illegitimate connection, as he is not recognized in the genealogy of
the family. ;

A.D. 1397,

p. 15.

A.D. 1397.

p. 16.

160 THE CHRONICLE OF

On the Monday next following (24th September), was
read the declaration of the earl of Nottingham, then captain
of Calais, in whose keeping had been the duke of Gloucester,
that the same duke could not appear on his trial, for that
he had died in his keeping; and at the prayer of the said
appellants the same judgement was issued against him, as
against the earl of Arundel.

Thomas, archbishop of Canterbury, also, after that his
temporalities had been seized, was banished the kingdom.

On the Tuesday following (25th September), Rickhill ',
one of the judges of our lord the king, a native of Ireland,
read divers confessions drawn up in writings touching the
said treasons, declaring them to be the confessions of the
said duke of Gloucester, put forth by him and written with
his own hand.

Also, the county of Chester was raised to the honour of
a duchy, and was augmented by the addition of the forfeited
lands of the earl of Arundel. And the earl of Salisbury
prayed for a writ of scire facias to be granted to him
against the earl of March touching the lordship of Denbigh
in Wales; and the king answered thereon that he would
consider it *.

Also, on the Wednesday next following (26th September),
it was decreed that the lands of the said earl of Arundel,
which were added to the said duchy of Chester, should
enjoy its liberties in all things, saving that the Welsh
inhabitants of those lands should still hold their ancient
rights and customs.

It was likewise ordained that all who gave counsel, help,
or favour to the children of those who had been, or should
be, condemned in this parliament, should be punished with

? William Rickhill, puisne judge of the Common Pleas.

2 On the attainder of Roger Mortimer, first earl of March, in 1330,
the lordship of Denbigh was granted to William de Montacute, after-
wards earl of Salisbury, but returned, in 1342, to Roger, second ear! of
March, on the reversal of the attainder.

ADAM OF USK 161

the pains of treason. And the parliament was adjourned
to the next Friday.

On that day (28th September), the king declared what
issue of the condemned should be debarred from their
estates, and from the councils and parliaments of the king:
to wit, heirs male, and all deseending from them in the
male line for ever.

Also, the king appointed to the said archbishop of
Canterbury a term of six weeks to withdraw from the
kingdom.

Also, it was ordained that all the lords, spiritual and
temporal, should swear to observe unswervingly whatsoever
had been or should be done, decreed, or despatched in this
parliament; the prelates also hurling their censures from
this time forth upon such as should make opposition.

Also, the earl of Warwick was brought to trial; and his
hood was taken from him, and the appeal was read. And
like a wretched old woman he made confession of all
contained therein, wailing and weeping and whining that he
had done all, traitor that he was ; submitting himself in all
things to the king’s grace, and bewailing that he had ever
been ally of the appellees. And the king asked him by
whom he had been lured to them; and he answered, by
the duke of Gloucester and by the then abbot of St. Albans
and by a monk recluse of Westminster; and he kept
begging the king’s grace. And then, all as it were lament-
ing and seeking the royal favour for him, the king gave
him his life to pine away in perpetual prison without the
kingdom, his goods, moveable and immoveable—as in the
case of the earl of Arundel—being first seized. And then
the king sent him to the Tower of London, and at length
ordered him to be taken to the castle of the Isle of Man,
to be held in the keeping of William Scrope, lord of that
island, a prisoner for life.

Also, on the Saturday (29th September), the king allowed
to the earl of Warwick one month to betake himself to the

M

A.D, 1897.

p. 17.

A.D. 1897,

162 THE CHRONICLE OF

said castle of Man. He also pretended to grant to him and
his wife five hundred marks for the term of their lives;
but he never paid them one penny, but took everything
from them even to their shoe-latchets }.

Also, to the earl of Salisbury was granted a writ of scire
facias against the earl of March as touching the lordship of
Denbigh, allowing grace of forty days to answer.

Also, it was ordained that debtors of the bridge of
Rochester be distrained to the use of the said bridge ?.

Also, the king declared that, as to the foray of the Scots,
rumoured abroad in this parliament, he would in council
find a remedy. |

Also, the earl of Derby was made duke of Hereford ; the
earl of Rutland, duke of Albemarle; the earl of Kent, duke
of Surrey; the earl of Huntingdon, duke of Exeter; the
earl of Nottingham, duke of Norfolk ; the earl of Somerset,
marquess of Dorset ; the lord Despencer, earl of Gloucester ;
the lord Nevill, earl of Westmoreland; the lord Thomas
Perey, earl of Worcester; and the lord William Scrope,
earl of Wiltshire. And the parliament was prorogued to

1 Thomas de Beauchamp, earl of Warwick, had been governor to
the king on his accession. He was condemned in this parliament, for
his share in the events of 1386-1388. The reference in the text to
the abbot of St. Albans and the monk of Westminster can only be
connected with the story of Gloucester’s conspiracy, which is told in
the Chronique de la Traison et Mort de Richart II. as taking place
in 1396, and in which John Moot, abbot of St. Albans, and John
Worting, prior of Westminster, were implicated. Richard did not
leave Warwick long in the Isle of Man, but brought him back to the
Tower, whence he was set free by Henry. His wife was Margaret,
daughter of William, baron Ferrers, of Groby. Their bad treatment is
noticed in Annales Ricardi II. (Rolls series), 220: ‘Ibi constituit
eum in carcere perpetuo conservari, promisso, tam sibi quam uxori
sue, victu honorifico de terris vel redditibus quondam eisdem perti-
nentibus, modo tamen forisfactis. Sed hanc sententiam postea non
implevit penes comitem et comitissam, sed in magna protrahere
miseria vitam permisit utrumque.”

2 Old Rochester bridge, formerly built of wood, was now replaced
by one of stone.— Rot. Parl. iij. 354.

ADAM OF USK 163

be dissolved at Shrewsbury, the quinzaine of Saint Hilary
next following.

On the Sunday (30th September), the king made a great
feast on the breaking up of the parliament ; and it was done
as was ordained on the Friday concerning the censures and
oaths. But, although this parliament was ratified by the
oaths of the lords, by the censures of the church levelled
against evil-doers, and by confirmation apostolic, Peter,
bishop of Acqs!, in the name of the pope, in like manner
hurling forth censures, yet, like the image of Nebuchad-
nezzar, in the height of its vain-glory it fell with its sup-
porters, and righteously, according to what has gone before,
as will presently more fully appear. The example of
Chosroes, of Belshazzar, of Antiochus, and of other tyrants
who have oppressed their people *.

And so the king continued the parliament at Shrewsbury
(28th January) with such worldly pomp, as ear hath not
heard neither hath it entered into the heart of man°.
What unprofitable things to the kingdom and destructive
that great trooping together of people, all armed as though
for war, did bring about, the world might wonder at. And
in this parliament, besides other things hurtful to his
people and ruinous to the price of food, even for his
victuals he paid naught. And there was then appealed of
treason the lord [John] de Cobham, for that he had been
one of the twelve commissioners of the kingdom. And he
said to the king in his trial: “It is well known to you
that you did command me to take upon me the burden of
the commission and to receive the same?” The king
answered: “Thou knowest well that I bade thee do so
against my will.” “ Assuredly not!” said the lord Cobham.

1 Pierre du Bois, bishop of Acqs, in the south of France, formerly

canon of Bordeaux. An order to seize his goods appears in Rymer’s.

Federa, 30th May, 1400.
* This sentence appears to be a note of examples to be enlarged
upon at a future time. 8 1 Cor. ij. 9.
M 2

A D, 1397.

p. 18.

A.D. 1898.

A.D. 1898,

164 THE CHRONICLE OF

And the king made him to be adjudged traitor by the
duke of Lancaster; yet granted he him his life to pine
away in prison. Thereupon the duke said to him: “Give
thanks to our lord the king for thy life.” “Nay, verily,”
said he, “ for the rather my life wearies me, because I thought
to rejoice in eternal life sooner than I shall do?.”

Then and there, too, the king wrung from the clergy
a tenth and a half, and from the people a fifteenth and
a half, and on every sack of wool five marks, and on every
tun of wine five shillings, and on every pound’s worth? of
merchandise two shillings, for the term of his life, amid the
secret curses of his people*. At length he sent the said
lord Cobham into perpetual prison in the island of Jersey.

To this parliament was summoned and came that noble
knight, the earl of March, lieutenant of Ireland, a youth
of exceeding uprightness, who had no part nor share in
such designs and wanton deeds of the king. Him the
people received with joy and delight, going forth to meet
him to the number of twenty thousand, clad in hoods of
his colours, red and white, and hoping through him for
deliverance from the grievous evil of such a king. But he
bore himself wisely and with prudence; for the king and
others who were only half-friends, envying his virtue, laid
snares for him, seeking occasions of complaint against him.
But he, as though he cared not for the turmoil among the
people, feigned in the king’s presence, pretending that his

1 John de Cobham, third baron Cobham, was at this time an old
man, between eighty and ninety years of age. He was recalled from
banishment by Henry IV., and survived till 1409. His granddaughter
Joan was the wife of sir John Oldcastle. Walsingham (Ypodigma
Neustrie, Rolls series, 379) refers to him as “ vir grandevus, simplex, et
rectus,” and confirms what Adam says regarding his indifference to
life: ‘Rex tamen, concessa seni, quam non optavit, venia, sive vita,
misit eum ad insulam de Gerneseya in exilium.”

2 The MS. reads, “librata ponderis.”

8 The parliament granted Richard a tenth and a half and a fifteenth
and a half, and the tax on wools, skins, and wool-fells for life.— Rot.
Parl. iij. 368.

ADAM OF USK 165

deeds were pleasing to him, although in very truth they
displeased him much. Yet the king mistrusted, and being
ever evil-minded against him, for that others dared it not,
thought with his own hands to slay him. And, with others
thereto sworn, the king did ever seek occasion to destroy
him, excusing his evil purpose in that the earl had received
in Ireland, some while after his banishment, sir Thomas
Mortimer, a bold knight, his uncle, who had been banished
by them and whom they sorely feared, and had also before
his departure furnished him with money. And so in secret
among themselves they doomed the earl, striving to find
a time to destroy him, and boasting that they would share
his lands amongst them. And to that end they sent into
Treland, as their lieutenant, to take him, my lord of Surrey
before mentioned, his wife’s brother!, who hated him
bitterly. But alas!, on Saint Margaret’s day (20th July),
near to Kells? in Ireland, while, too bold in his warlike
valour, he had rashly outstripped his own troops, he fell
by the accident of war into the hands of his enemies and
was slain, to the great sorrow of the realm of England,
and to the no small joy and delight of his rivals and
adversaries °.

1 Roger Mortimer, earl of March, married Eleanor, sister of Thomas
Holland, duke of Surrey.

2 Kenlasoe. MS. The place meant is Kells, co. Kilkenny.

8 The following is an extract from a chronicle of the founders of
Wigmore abbey, which is printed in Dugdale’s Monasticon, vj. 354.
The adoption by the earl of the Irish dress is rather a curious fact :—
“Tste Rogerus, juvenis probitate illius temporis preclarus, hastiludiis
strenuus, in facescia gloriosus, in epulis dapsilis, in muneribus largus,
in communione affabilis et jocosus, pulcritudine et forma coetaneos
excellens, in wtatis suze vicessimo anno locumtenens Hibernie pre-
ficitur: unde de et super castro et villa de Dynnebygh, cum Rosse
et Ruwynnok pago adjacenti, per comitem Sarum, consilio, auxilio,
et favore ducis Lancastrie in eventum victorie idem sibi dominium
captantis, in ultimo parliamento dicti regis Ricardi, apud Salopiam
tento, contra eum causa mota, ad defensionem, milibus colore suo
indutis stipatus, et ab omnibus aliis pagensibus, etiam expensis
propriis, pro majore parte, in coloribus suis, scilicet rubeo et albo,

A.D, 1398.

A.D. 1398.

p. 21.

166 THE CHRONICLE OF

This is the genealogy of the same earl: Roger, son of
Edmund, son of Roger, son of Edmund, son of Roger, first
earl of March, [son of Edmund, son of Roger], son of
Gwladus the Dark, daughter of Llewellyn, son of Jorwerth
the Broken-nosed, prince of North Wales. (And so, through
the British kings, the heathen gods, and the patriarchs to
Adam.) Now let us return to Gwladus the Dark, whose
mother was Joan, [natural] daughter of king John, son of
Henry, son of the empress, daughter of Henry the first, son
of William the Conqueror, son [of Robert, son] of Richard,
son of Richard the Hardy, son of William Long-sword, son
of Rollo, the first conqueror of Normandy.

Besides this noble descent from the kings of Britain,
Italy, Troy, England, France, and Spain, see how flourished
the royal race of the earls of March! The same Roger
above mentioned was son of Philippa, countess of March,
daughter of Lionel, duke of Clarence, second son of Edward
the third’, glorious king of England and France, son of
Isabella, daughter and sole heir of Philip, king of France:
and this, too, in both direct lines. Also, by another line,
he was son of the said Philippa, daughter of Elizabeth,
duchess of Clarence, daughter of William de Burgh, earl of
Ulster, [son of John de Burgh] by Elizabeth, daughter of
Joan of Acre, daughter of Edward the first, king of Eng-
land and conqueror of Wales, by Eleanor, daughter of the

vestitis, magnis cum gloria et gaudio receptus, in emulorum et
adversariorum confusionem non modicum advenit, et dictum dominum
summaliter [sententialiter ?] et diffinitive evicit.

“Iste Rogerus, vir licet bellicosus et inclitus, ac negotiis fortunatus,
pulcherque et formosus, ut premittitur, fuerit, nimis tamen lascivus
et in divinis heu! remissus; consilioque juvenum, antiquorum rejecto,
abductus, nimia animositate, immo verius ferocitate leonina, Leonelli
nepoti satis innata, sed (proh dolor!) non regulata, irruendo excerci-
tum precedens, Hibernicali vestitus et equitatus apparatu, nec suos
in succursum expectans, ac hostes invadens, apud Kenles in Hibernia
per homines Obrinque invasus, belli eventu in anno Domini mccexcviij.
cecidit inde, quia hostibus ignotus, quam dolenter trucidatus.”

1 Third son. William of Hatfield was the second-born.

ADAM OF USK 167

king of Spain, his first wife. Also, by another line, he was
son of the countess Philippa, daughter of the said duchess
of Clarence, daughter of the said earl of Ulster by Matilda,
daughter of Henry, earl of Lancaster, son of Edmund, son
of the third Henry, king of England, by Eleanor, daughter
of the count of Provence, who is buried in honour among
the kings at Westminster. Furthermore, take note con-
cerning Edmund, now earl of March, son of the said Roger,
being under age and in the ward of the king’, born of
Eleanor, niece of king Richard the second, daughter of
[Thomas] earl of Kent, son of Joan, countess of Kent,
daughter of Edmund, son of the said Edward the first by
Margaret, daughter of the king of France, his second wife,
who lies buried before the high altar in the church of the
grey friars of London.

Now let us go back to the said empress (Matilda), who
was daughter of [Matilda, daughter of] Margaret, queen of
Scotland, daughter of Edward the exile, son of Edmund
Ironside, son of Athelred, son of Edgar, son of Edmund, son
of Edward, son of Alfred, son of Athelwulf, son of Athel-
bry3t 2, son of Aelmund, who was one of the five chieftains
of England. The which Athelbry3t fled before the face of
Bry3thry3t* his foe into France, in the time of Charlemagne ;
but, Bry3thry3t dying, he came again into England, and
bravely subduing all the other chieftains of the land he
brought England into one kingdom, and peacefully dwelt
therein ; and now he lies at Winchester.

Now let us go back to Ralph Mortimer, the husband of
Gwladus the Dark and son of Roger, son of Hugh, the
founder of the abbey of Wigmore, son of Ralph Mortimer
who first came with William the Conqueror into England.

1 He was kept prisoner of state by Henry IV. till 1418. As he
came of age in 1412, the above note about him must have been written
before that date.

2 i.e. Ecgberht.

5 Beorhtric, king of Wessex.

A.D. 1898.

p. 22.

A.D. 1898.

p. 28.

168 THE CHRONICLE OF

This Ralph, leaving his son Hugh in his lordship of Wig-
more, went back into Normandy and there died.

Now I must not omit to say something concerning
Edmund, the father of the said Roger. This Edmund, who,
within the space of two years, by his abounding virtues as -
well as by his warlike energy and vigour, wherein he sur-
passed all other mortals of his day, did wonderfully bring
all Ireland, being then in rebellion when he came to his
lieutenancy, into unity and peace and under the dominion
of England,—he, I say, presented me, who am now writing,
to a studentship in laws at Oxford, with fitting endow-
ment. But alas! at his house in Cork, in Ireland, on the
day of Saint John the Evangelist (27th December), through
that fate whereby all are laid low, he left the world bereft
of his great nobility, long time before I would have had it
so. And his bones lie in Wigmore abbey along with those
of his wife Philippa, buried in front of the high altar‘.
Concerning them are these verses :—

“One wise and good and well-beloved beneath
This marble turns again to earth in death.
Edmund’s pure body lies within this grave ;
But Christ from prisoning tomb his soul shall save.”

And for Philippa,

“A noble countess here entomb’d doth lie,
In deeds of ample charity she strove ;
Though sprung from kings, the friend of poverty ;
For ever may she live in heaven above!” ?

Through this Philippa, daughter of Lionel, second-born
prince of England, as is above said, the earldom of March,
besides its royal lineage, which might, belike, reach to the

1 The Mortimers were short-lived. Of the last four earls, Roger
was born about 1827 and died in 1360, Edmund lived from 1351 to
1381, Roger from 1374 to 1398, and Edmund from 1391 to 1425.

* The Latin original of these lines is also given in the chronicle
printed in Dugdale’s Monasticon, vj. 353.

ADAM OF USK 169

highest places of dignity, rejoices in the honours wherewith
it is endowed in the lordships of Clare [co. Suffolk], Wal-
singham [co. Norfolk], Sudbury [co. Suffolk], Whaddon [co.
Bucks. ], Crambourn [co. Dorset], and Bardfield [co. Essex],
in England ; of Usk, Caerleon, and Trelleck [co. Monmouth],
in Wales; and in the earldom of Ulster and lordship of
Connaught, in Ireland; together with the several and
numerous appurtenances belonging thereto.

Now return we to the parliament of Shrewsbury. During
its session, the duke of Norfolk, who afterwards died in
exile at Venice, laid snares of death against the duke of
Lancaster as he came thither; which thing raised heavy
storms of trouble. But the duke, forewarned by others,
escaped the snare’.

The king meanwhile, ever hastening to his fall, among
other burdens that he heaped upon his kingdom, kept in
his following four hundred unruly men of the county of
Chester, very evil; and in all places they oppressed his
subjects unpunished, and beat and robbed them. These
men, whithersoever the king went, night and day, as if at
war, kept watch in arms around him; everywhere com-
mitting adulteries, murders, and other evils without end.

1 “For you, my noble lord of Lancaster,

The honourable father to my foe,

Once did I lay an ambush for your life,

A trespass that doth vex my grieved soul;

But, ere I last received the Sacrament,

I did confess it, and exactly begg’d

Your grace’s pardon, and I hope I had it.”

Rich. IT., act I. sc. i.
Such are the words which Shakespeare puts into Mowbray’s mouth,

closely following the account given by Holinshed. From what source
the latter took the story of the ambush does not appear. That such
a plot against the life of Lancaster had a real existence is not
unlikely, considering the jealousy with which he had been regarded
in his days of power; but that Norfolk had designs upon him so late
as the parliament of Shrewsbury can hardly be true. He is said to
have refused to attend the parliament in 1384, fearing a plot against
him (Mon. Evesh. 57).

A.D. 1398.

A.D, 1898.

170 THE CHRONICLE OF

And to such a pass did the king cherish them that he
would not deign to listen to any one who had complaint
against them; nay, rather he would disdain him as an
enemy. And this was a chief cause of his ruin?.

In the same parliament, the duke of Hereford, son of the
said duke of Lancaster, appealed the duke of Norfolk of
treason. Wherefore the king appointed to them the morrow
of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross? next following to fight
in that quarrel. The duke of Hereford meanwhile, finding
pledges, went whither he would. But the duke of Norfolk

2 The excesses of Richard’s Cheshire guards are a common topic
with the chroniclers. The archers who surrounded the parliament-
house in 1897, as above noticed, were men of Chester, who had been
specially summoned by Richard to form his body-guard (Walsingham,
ij. 224). In the Annales Ricardi IT., they appear as “natura bestiales,
qui parati erant ad omnem nequitiam perpetrandam; ita ut expost
tanta surrexit eis insolentia, ut regem reputabant in socium, et alios,
quanquam valentes et dominos, haberent in despectum. Et hii non
erant de generosis patriew, sed tracti vel de rure, vel sutoria vel
alia quavis arte; ut qui domi vix digni reputati fuerant detrahere
calceos magistrorum, hic se reputabant pares et socios dominorum.”
Interference of these favoured subjects of Richard in other matters
besides soldiering is noticed in Richard the Redeles, iij. 317, wherein
the remarks in the text above on the king’s protection of them are
repeated in very similar words :—

“For chyders of Chester were chose many daies
To ben of conceill ffor causis pat in pe court hangid,
And pledid pipoudris alle manere pleyntis.
They constrewed quarellis to quenche pe peple,
And pletid with pollaxis and poyntis of swerdis,
And at the dome-jevynge drowe out pe bladis,
And lente men levere of her longe battis.
They lacked alle vertues pat a juge shulde have ;
For, er a tale were ytolde, pey wolde trie pe harmes,
Without ony answere but ho his lyf hatid.
And ho so pleyned to pe prince, pat pees shulde kepe,
Of these mystirmen, medlers of wrongis,
He was lyghtliche ylau3te and yluggyd of many,
And ymummyd on pe mouthe and manaced to pe deth.”

2 This day would fall on the 15th September; the 16th was the

actual day appointed.

ADAM OF USK 171

being delivered into custody at Windsor, his offices were
given over to his other co-appellors, that is, the office of
marshal of England to the duke of Surrey, and that of
captain of Calais to the duke of Exeter; on account
of which grants, by His righteous judgement, God did send
between him and them great confusion of strife, according
to what the prophecy says in the verse :—

“By the Judge of Heaven’s decree
The wicked throng shall bursten be.”!

And on the day of battle they both came in great state
to the appointed place, which was fenced with a wet ditch.
But the duke of Hereford appeared far more gloriously
distinguished with diverse equipments of seven horses”.
And, because the king had it by divination that the duke
of Norfolk should then prevail, he rejoiced much, eagerly
striving after the destruction of the duke of Hereford. But
when they joined battle, it seemed to him that the duke
of Hereford would prevail. And so the king ordered the
combat to be stayed, laying perpetual exile on the duke of
Norfolk, yet being minded, when he should find occasion,
to restore him. But the duke of Hereford he banished the
realm for ten years, The one died at Venice in exile; the
other within a year came back in triumph to the kingdom,
and, deposing him who had banished him, reigned therein
with might.

In this year, the morrow of Saint Blaise (4th February),
died the duke of Lancaster, and in the church of Saint Paul
in London, nigh to the high altar, was with great honours
buried.

In the parliament of Shrewsbury, the king got the whole
power of the government to be given over to him and to

1 Bridlington, dist. ij. cap. vj.

* The combatants made a great display of arms and trappings.
Henry was assisted by armourers sent by the duke of Milan ; Mowbray
received his arms from Germany.—Froissart, iv. 63; <Archwologia,
xx. 102.

A.D. 1398.

p. 24.

A.D. 1399,

A.D. 1398.

A.D. 1898.

A.D. 1399.

p. 25.

172 THE CHRONICLE OF

six others to be named by him for the term of his life,
where and when he should please!. By means of which
commission he afterwards condemned the said duke of
Hereford to perpetual exile, seizing all his goods. And he
passed sentence against the memory of many who were
dead. And at length, in an evil hour, he set out for Ireland
(29th May) to subdue it, for, as will hereinafter be seen, his
return to his own land was to his injury.

The coming out of exile of the said duke of Hereford,
now by his father’s death become duke of Laneaster, and so
twice a duke, was according to the word of the prophecy of
Bridlington where are the verses :—

*“ With scarce three hundred men the duke shall come
again ;
And Philip, false, shall flee, all reckless of the slain.” 2

This duke Henry, according to the prophecy of Merlin,
was the eaglet, as being the son of John*, But, following

? The commission to which were deputed the powers of parliament,
at the close of the session of Shrewsbury, consisted of twelve peers and
six commoners. Half of their number was empowered to act.—Rot.
Parl. iij. 368.

2 Dist. ij. cap. ij.

* An allusion to the emblem of St. John, the eagle. The “pullus
aquilz” is however not to be found in the prophecy of Merlin, as
given in Geoffrey of Monmouth, but in the “ Prophetia Aquile,”
which often accompanies it in the MSS. The following is found in
MS. Reg. 15 C. xvj. f. 184:—“ Post hee dicetur per Britanniam rex
est rex non est. Post hec eriget caput suum et regem se esse signifi-
cabit multis fracturis sed nulla reparacione. Post hee erit tempus
milvorum et quod quisque rapuerit pro suo habebit, et hoc septennis
vigebit. Ecce rapacitas et sanguinis effusio et furni multis compara-
buntur ecclesiis et quod alius serit alius metet et vite: miseri mors
prevalebit et paucorum hominum integra manebit caritas et quod
quisque pepigerit vespere mane violabitur. Deinde ab austro veniet
cum sole super ligneos equos et super spumantem inundacionem
maris pullus aquile navigans in Britanniam et applicans tunc statim
et aliam domum aquile siciens et cito aliam siciet.” Those who have
read Mr. Webb’s translation of Creton’s metrical history of the depo-
sition of Richard will recall the scene of the aged knight who, as he
rides along by Creton’s side, tells him how the king’s ruin had been fore-

ADAM OF USK 173

Bridlington, he was rightfully the dog’, by reason of his
badge of a collar of linked greyhounds’, and because he
came in the dog-days; and because he utterly drove out
from the kingdom the faithless harts, that is, the livery of
king Richard which was the hart.

told by Merlin, as he was prepared to prove out of book (Archeologia,
xx. 168, 374, and appx. IV.).

1 Adam no doubt refers to the line in Bridlington (dist. ij. cap. vij.)—

“Cum canis intrabit, leo cum tauro volitabit,”

which is thus commented upon: “ Cum canis intrabit, id est, cum illa
stella nociva in ccelo, que canis primus dicitur, oriatur cum sole,
quod est quando sol est in fine cancri in mense Julii in diebus canicu-
laribus,” ete. The adaptation of prophecy could scarcely be carried
further than to dub a man “ dog” because he works out his mission in
the dog-days.

2 The greyhound has not been commonly recognized as among
Henry’s badges. The better known ones were the antelope, the white
swan, and the fox’s brush. Here, however, is the badge of the grey-
hound, so specifically named that there can be no doubt that Henry
made use of it. Richard’s cognizance of the white hart may perhaps
have suggested his rival’s use of the greyhound at this time, with the
significance pointed to in the text. In the Harleian MS. 1989, f.381,
containing a chronicle (unfortunately very corrupt) compiled at
Chester, is also to be found a reference to this badge :—‘‘ Unde creditur
quod armigeri ducis Lancastrie deferentes collistrigia quasi leporarii
ad destruendum insolenciam misse bestie,” etc. (Traison et Mort de
Richart IT., 283.)

The identification of the greyhound as a badge of Henry Bolingbroke
may explain a passage in Richard the Redeles (ij. 113), which has
caused some trouble to editors :—

“But had pe good greehonde be not agreved,

But cherischid as a cheffeteyne and cheff of 3oure lese,

3e hadde had hertis ynowe at 3oure wille to go and to ride.”
Mr. Wright supposes John Beaufort, earl of Dorset, to be here meant,
the greyhound being the cognizance of his family (Political Poems,
Rolls series, i. 386). Professor Skeat proposes Ralph Nevill, earl of
Westmoreland. There can, however, be no question that Henry is
more likely to be pointed to as “chief of your leash,” than the other
two comparatively unimportant nobles.

With reference to these types and badges, it is a curious coincidence
that in the will of Edmund Mortimer, third earl of March, quoted by
Dugdale (Baronage, i. 149), a saltcellar in the form of a dog is
bequeathed to his daughter; and to Henry, lord Percy, a little cup,
made like the body of a hart, with the head of an eagle,

A.D. 1399.

A.D, 1899,

174 THE CHRONICLE OF

This duke Henry returned from exile in company with
Thomas, archbishop of Canterbury, and Thomas, earl of
Arundel, the son, who for fear of his life had fled to him
in France from the keeping of the duke of Exeter, king
Richard’s brother; and he landed on the twenty-eighth
day of June! with scarce three hundred followers, as above
said, at a deserted spot in the northern parts of the land.
And there first came to his help the chief forester of his
forest of Knaresborough, Robert Waterton’, with two
hundred foresters; and afterwards the earls of Westmore-
land and Northumberland, and the lords Willoughby and
Greystock ; and, in short, within a few days he stood in
triumph, with one hundred thousand fighting men at his
back. And two days before the end of July he arrived at
Bristol, and there he struck off the heads of sir William
Scrope °, the king’s treasurer, and sir John Bushy and
sir Henry Grene, knights, the king’s most evil councillors
and the chief fosterers of his malice. There was I, the
writer of this chronicle, present with my lord of Canterbury
late returned ; and I, through favour, made peace between
the duke and the lordship of Usk, the place of my birth,
which he had determined to harry, on account of the re-
sistance of the lady of that place, the king’s niece, there
ordered; and I also got sir Edward de Cherleton*, then

1 The date of Henry’s landing is variously given in the chronicles.

2 Robert Waterton, afterwards a knight and Henry’s master of the
horse, is in some of the chronicles placed among those who accom-
panied Henry from France. In the Sloane MS. 1776—containing
a chronicle which partly follows the Monk of Evesham and partly the
Annales (ed. Riley), and which is partly independent,—and also in
the Harleian MS. 58, a version of the Brut chronicle, as well as in
Wyntown (ix. 20, 2001), Waterton figures as Richard’s gaoler at
Pontefract.

8 The earl of Wiltshire, who is seldom named in the chronicles by
his chief title.

* Sir Edward de Cherleton married, as his first wife, Alianore,
daughter of Thomas Holland, earl of Kent, Richard’s half-brother, and
widow of Roger Mortimer, fourth earl of March. He succeeded his

ADAM OF USK 175

husband of that lady, to be taken into the duke’s follow-
ing ; and I caused all the people of Usk, who for the said
resistance had gathered at Monstarri!, to their great joy to
return to their own homes.

At length the duke came to Hereford with his host, on
the second day of August, and lodged in the bishop's
palace; and on the morrow he moved towards Chester,
and passed the night in the priory of Leominster. The
next night he spent at Ludlow, in the king’s castle, not
sparing the wine which was therein stored. At this place,
I, who am now writing, obtained from the duke and from
my lord of Canterbury the release of brother Thomas
Prestbury, master in theology, a man of my day at Oxford
and a monk of Shrewsbury, who was kept in prison by
king Richard, for that he had righteously preached certain
things against his follies; and I also got him promotion to
the abbacy of his house*. Then, passing through Shrews-
bury, the duke tarried there two days; where he made pro-
clamation that the host should march on Chester, but should
spare the people and the country, because by mediation
they had submitted themselves to him. Wherefore many
who coveted that land for plunder departed to their homes.
But little good did the proclamation do for the country, as
will be seen. The reasons why the duke decided to invade
that country were: because, abetting the king, as has been
said, it ceased not to molest the realm for the space of two
whole years with murders, adulteries, thefts, pillage, and
other unbearable wrongs; and because it had risen up

brother as baron Cherleton and feudal lord of Powis, in 1401. He
was also a knight of the Garter.

1 [ cannot identify this place. The scribe has probably blundered.
Perhaps Trostrey, two miles north of Usk, is meant.

2 Thomas de Prestbury received the royal assent to his election as
abbot of Shrewsbury on the 17th August, and had the temporalities
on the 7th September, 1399. He afterwards got into trouble again,
for he received a pardon from the king in 14 Hen. IV., and again,
when indicted for felony, in 3 Hen. V.—Dugdale, Monasticon, iij. 514.

A.D. 1899.

p. 26.

A.D. 1899,

176 THE CHRONICLE OF

against the said duke and against his coming, threatening
to destroy him. Another cause was on account of the
right of exemption of that country, wherein the inhabitants,
however criminal elsewhere, and others entangled in debt
or crime, were wont to be harboured, as in a nest of
wickedness ; so that the whole realm cried vengeance on
them.

On the eighth! day of August, the duke with his host
entered the county of Chester, and there, in the parish of
Coddington and other neighbouring parishes, taking up
his camping ground and pitching his tents, nor sparing
meadow nor cornfield, pillaging all the country round, and
keeping strict watch against the wiles of the men of
Chester, he passed the night. And I, the writer of this
chronicle, spent a not uncheerful night in the tent of the
lord of Powis. Many in neighbouring places, drinking of
the poisoned cups given to them by the people of Chester,
perished. There also, from divers water-cisterns, which
the men probed with spears, and from other hiding-places,
vessels and much other goods were drawn forth and taken
for plunder, I being present with the finders. —

On the morrow, which was the eve of Saint Lawrence
(9th August), I went in the morning to the church of
Coddington, to celebrate mass; but I found nothing, for
everything was carried off and doors and chests broken
open.

On the same day the duke of Lancaster with his host
reached Chester. But first he mustered his troops in a large
and fair field, wherein was a crop of standing corn, some
three miles from the city, on its eastern side, marshalling
their ranks to the number of one hundred thousand fighting
men. And it may be truly said that the hills shone again
with their shields. And thus he entered the castle of
Chester; and there he remained for twelve days, he and

1 The MS. reads “nono”; but the date is rectified by the next
paragraph,

ADAM OF USK 177

his men, using king Richard’s wine which was found there A.D. 1399.
in good store, laying waste fields, pillaging houses, and, in
short, taking as their own everything they wanted for use
or food, or which in any way could be turned to account’.

On the third day of his arrival there he caused the head
of Perkin de Lye’, who was reckoned a great evil-doer, to
be struck off and fixed on a stake beyond the eastern gate.
This Perkin, who as chief warden of the royal forest of
Delamere *, and by authority of that office, had oppressed
and ground down the country people, was taken in a monk’s
garb ; and because, as it was said, he had done many wrongs
in such disguise, he deservedly passed away out of the world
in that dress. One thing I know, that I thought no man
grieved for his death.

King Richard, hearing in Ireland of the landing of the
duke, set out in the full glory of war and wealth, and made
for the shores of Wales at Pembroke with a great host, and
landed on the day of Saint Mary Magdalene (22nd July),
sending forward the lord Despencer‘ to stir up his men
of Glamorgan to his help; but they obeyed him not.
Dismayed by this news coming in from all sides, and
acting on the advice of those who I think were traitors,
and hoping to be relieved by the succour of the men of
North Wales and Chester, he fled in panic at midnight
with only a few followers to Caermarthen®, on the road
to Conway castle in North Wales. Whereupon the dukes,
earls, barons, and all who were with him in his great host,

1 See the Tratson et Mort, appendix C, 281.

2 Sir Piers de Legh, of Lyme Hanley.

5 The jurisdiction of the forest of Delamere was vested in four
families: Kingsley, Grosvenor, Wever, and Merton.—Ormerod, History
of Cheshire (1819), ij. 50.

* Thomas Despencer, created earl of Gloucester in 1897; beheaded
in 1400. .

® The Harl. MS. 1989, printed in the Traison et Mort, appendix C,
282, also mentions Caermarthen as the place whither Richard first |
went on landing in Wales.

N

178 THE CHRONICLE OF

A.D. 1399, according to the text: “Smite the shepherd and the sheep

p. 28.

shall be scattered,”’! disbanded, and making their way
through by-ways into England were robbed of everything
by the country people*. And I saw many of the chief men
come in to the duke thus stripped; and many of them,
whom he trusted not, he delivered into divers keepings.
On the eve of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin
(14th August)*, my lord of Canterbury and the earl of
Northumberland went away to the king at the castle of
Conway, to treat with him on the duke’s behalf; and the
king, on condition of saving his dignity, promised to sur-
render to the duke at the castle of Flint. And so, delivering
up to them his two crowns, valued at one hundred thousand
marks, with other countless treasure*, he straightway set
forth to Flint. There the duke coming to him with twenty
thousand chosen men—the rest of his host being left behind
to guard his quarters and the country and castle and city
of Chester '—sought the king within the castle (for he

1 Zech, xiij. 7.

2 See Archeeologia, xx. 104, 328, where Creton tells us how the
English soldiers were pillaged by the Welsh as they made their way
through the country.

8 In the Traison et Mort, 195, the earl of Northumberland receives

his instructions on the 17th August. As, however, he was at Conway -

on the 18th of the month, and had to make his arrangements and
post his troops, the date in our chronicle is probably the more correct
one. Both Creton (Arch. xx.) and the author of the Traison et Mort
state that Northumberland alone was present at Conway, and that
the archbishop met the king at Flint. Consequently, the truth of
Richard’s promise to abdicate, which, according to the Rolls of Par-
liament (iij. 416), was made at Conway to the archbishop and earl, is
open to doubt. See TZratson et Mort, 202; Lingard, Hist. Engl. ;
Wallon, Richard II. ij. 292.

* This story of the surrender of treasure is not supported by other
chronicles. Perhaps the capture of treasure at Holt castle, which
surrendered to Henry, is meant.—Arch. xx. 122.

5 Creton has drawn a fine scene in which Richard stands on the
battlements of Flint castle and watches Henry’s army advance and
encircle the fortress (Arch. xx. 155, 370). The number of troops is
put down at 100,000 men, and the whole body is represented as

ADAM OF USK 179

would not come forth), girding it round with his armed
men on the one side and with his archers on the other;
whereby was fulfilled the prophecy: “The white king shall
array his host in form of a shield.”! And he led him away
prisoner to Chester castle, where he delivered him into safe
keeping. Thus, too, he placed in custody certain lords,
taken along with the king, to be kept till the parliament
which was to begin on the morrow of Michaelmas-day.
While the duke was then at Chester, three of the twenty-
four aldermen of the city of London, on behalf of the same
city, together with other fifty citizens, came to the duke,
and recommended their city to him, under their common

seal, renouncing their fealty to king Richard?. They told,

too, how the citizens had gathered in arms to Westminster
abbey to search for the king, hearing that he had in secret
fled thither; and that, not finding him there, they had
ordered to be kept in custody, till parliament, Roger
Walden, Nicholas Slake, and Ralph Selby, the king’s
special councillors, whom they did find*, And so the
duke, having gloriously, within fifty days, conquered both
king and kingdom, marched to London; and there he
placed the captive king in the Tower, under fitting guard. .

marching to Flint. Dr. Lingard has made some allowance, and
reduced the number to 80,000. Twenty thousand men would, how-
ever, be quite enough for Henry’s purpose; and I have no doubt that
Adam’s account of the disposition of the troops is right.

* This comes from the “ Prophetia Aquile ” :—“ Exercitus ejus ad
modum clipei formabuntur.”—MS. Reg. 15 C. xvj.

? The deputation from London is also said to have met Henry at
Lichfield (Arch. xx. 176), or at Coventry (Tratson et Mort, 212).

® Holinshed (ed. 1807, ij. 859) tells a somewhat similar story: that
some of the Londoners designed to slay Richard on his arrival in the
city, but, being prevented, “They, comminge to Westminster, tooke
maister John Sclake, deane of the king’s chappell, and from thence
brought him to Newgate, and there laid him fast in irons.” Roger
Walden was shortly afterwards deposed from the archbishopric of
Canterbury. Nicholas Slake was prebendary of York, and dean of the
king’s chapel, Westminster. Ralph de Selby had been subdean of
York, and was warden of King’s Hall, Cambridge.

N 2

A.D. 1899.

p. 29.

A.D. 1899,

180 . THE CHRONICLE OF

Meanwhile the duke sent to Ireland for his eldest son
Henry, and for Humphrey, son of the duke of Gloucester,
who had been imprisoned in the castle of Trim by king
Richard. And when they had been sent over to him,
along with great treasure belonging to the king, the said
Humphrey, having been poisoned in Ireland, as was said,
by the lord Despencer, died, to the great grief of the land,
on his coming to the isle of Anglesey in Wales!. But the
duke’s son came safe to his father, and brought with him
in chains sir William Bagot?, a knight of low degree, who
had been raised by the king to high places,

It was of king Richard’s nature to abase the noble and
exalt the base, as of this same sir William and other
low-born fellows he made great men, and of very many
unlettered men he made bishops, who afterwards fell ruined
by their irregular leap into power*®. Wherefore of this
king Richard, as of Arthgallo, once king of Britain, it may
well be said in this wise: Arthgallo debased the noble and
raised up the low, he took from every man his wealth,
and gathered countless treasure; wherefore the chiefs of
the land, unable longer to bear such great wrongs, revolting
against him, put him aside and set up his brother to be
king*. So in all things was it with king Richard; con-
cerning whose birth much evil report was noised abroad,

1 Creton represents him as arriving in England, and as having, along
with the young earl of Arundel, the custody of Richard confided to
him at Chester.—Arch. xx. 178, 375. He is also said to have died of
plague, either at Chester or at Coventry.

2 Bagot had escaped from Bristol. He was afterwards set at liberty,
and died a few years later in retirement.—Arch. xx. 278.

3 The appointments of Walden, archbishop of Canterbury, Merke,
bishop of Carlisle, and Winchecumb, bishop of Worcester, are here
pointed at.

* Adam is quoting, from memory, from Geoffrey of Monmouth:
“‘Nobiles namque ubique laborabat deponere et ignobiles exaltare,
divitibus quibusque sua auferre, infinitos thesauros accumulans. Quod
heroes regni diutius ferre recusantes insurrexerunt in illum et a solio
regio deposuerunt” (iij. 17).

ADAM OF USK 181

as of one sprung not from a father of royal race, but from
a mother given to slippery ways of life; to say Homing of
much that I have heard '.

Next, the matter of setting aside king Richard, and of
choosing Henry, duke of Lancaster, in his stead, and how
it was to be done and for what reasons, was judicially
committed to be debated on by certain doctors, bishops, and
others, of whom I, who am now noting down these things,
was one. And it was found by us that perjuries, sacri-
leges, unnatural crimes, exactions from his subjects, reduc-
tion of his people to slavery, cowatdice and weakness of
rule—with all of which crimes king Richard was known to
be tainted—were reasons enough for setting him aside, in
accordance with the chapter: “Ad apostolice dignitatis,”
under the title: “De re judicata,” in the Sextus”; and,

1 See the account in the Traison et Mort, 215, of Richard’s reception
by the Londoners with the cry: “Now are we well revenged of this
wicked bastard, who has governed us so ill!” Froissart (iv. c. 77)
gives shape to these rumours in an apocryphal dialogue between
Richard and Henry in the Tower, when the former was said to have
resigned the crown. Henry, upbraiding Richard, says: ‘“ Et tant que
commune renommée court, par toute Angleterre et ailleurs, que vous
ne fates oncques fils au prince de Galles, mais d’un clere ou d’un
chanoine; car j’ai oui dire & aucuns chevaliers qui furent de l’hétel
du prince mon oncle, que pourtant que le prince se sentoit méfait de
mariage, car votre mére étoit cousine germaine au roi Edouard, et le
commencoit & accueiller en grand’ haine pourtant qu'il n’avoit point
de génération, et si étoit sa commére deux fois des enfants qu’il avoit
tenus sur le fonds qui furent & messire Thomas de Hollande, elle, qui
bien savoit tenir le prince et qui conquis l’avoit en mariage par
subtilité et cautelle, se douta que mon oncle le prince, par une diverse
voie, ne se voulsist démarier; et fit tant qu'elle fut grosse et vous eut,
et encore un autre devant vous. Du premier on ne scut que dire ni
juger; mais de vous, pourtant que on a vu vos moours et conditions
trop contraires et différentes aux vaillances et prouesses du prince, on
dit et parole, en ce pays ci et ailleurs, que vous fites fils d’un clerc
ou d’un chanoine. Car pour le temps que vous faites engendré et né
& Bordeaux sur Gironde il y en avoit moult de jeunes et beaux en
Vhétel du prince.”

2 Liber sextus Decretalium, ii. tit. xiv. § ij. This was the decree of
deposition passed at the council of Lyons, in 1245, by pope Innocent IV.
against the emperor, Frederick II.

A.D. 1899.

p. 30.

A.D. 1899.

182 THE CHRONICLE OF

although he was ready himself to yield up the crown, yet
for better security was it determined, for the aforesaid
reasons, that he should be deposed by the authority of
the clergy and people; for which purpose they were
summoned.

On Saint Matthew’s day (21st September), just two years
after the beheading of the earl of Arundel, I, the writer of
this history, was in the Tower, wherein king Richard was
a prisoner, and I was present while he dined, and I marked
his mood and bearing, having been taken thither for that
very purpose by sir William Beauchamp’. And there and
then the king discoursed sorrowfully in these words: “ My
God!, a wonderful land is this, and a fickle; which hath
exiled, slain, destroyed, or ruined so many kings, rulers,
and great men, and is ever tainted and toileth with strife
and variance and envy” *?; and then he recounted the
histories and names of sufferers from the earliest habitation
of the kingdom. Perceiving then the trouble of his mind,
and how that none of his own men, nor such as were wont
to serve him, but strangers who were but spies upon him,
were appointed to his service, and musing on his ancient
and wonted glory and on the fickle fortune of the world,
I departed thence much moved at heart.

One day, in a council held by the said doctors, the point
was raised by some, that by the right of descent from the
person of Edmund, earl of Lancaster—they declaring that
the same Edmund was the eldest son of king Henry the
third, but that, on account of his mental weakness, his
birthright had been set aside and his younger brother

1 Sir William Beauchamp, distinguished as a soldier and sea-captain,
became lord Bergavenny in 1392. He died in 1410.
2 «For God’s sake, let us sit upon the ground
And tell sad stories of the death of kings:
How some have been deposed; some slain in war ;
Some haunted by the ghosts they have deposed ;
Some poison’d by their wives; some sleeping kill’d ;
All murder’d.” Shakespeare, Richard II, act III. sc. ij.

ADAM OF USK 183

Edward preferred in his place—Richard’s succession in the
direct line was barred. As to this, see the history in the
pedigree!, known throughout England, that Edward was
first-born son of king Henry, and that after him, and before
Edmund, Margaret, who was afterwards queen of Scotland,
was born to the same king. I have read the following in

the chronicles of the friars preachers of London: “There,

was born Edward, eldest son of king Henry, at West-
minster; whom the legate Otho baptized” (book vii. ch.
xxv., A.D, 1239). Again: “ King Henry gave to his eldest
son Edward Gascony, Ireland, Wales, Chester, and Surrey”
(book vii. ch. xxxvij., A.D. 1253). Again: “ On the fifteenth
day of May, in the battle of Lewes, the barons took prisoners
king Henry and his eldest son Edward” (book vij. ch.
xxxvij., A.D. 1253). Again: “ Edward, eldest son of king
Henry, went with his wife to the Holy Land” (book vij.
ch. xxxvij., A.D. 1271).—Polychronicon. Again: “ King
Henry kept Christmas at Winchester. The same year of
our Lord, 1239, was born to king Henry and queen Eleanor
their eldest son Edward, on the seventeenth day of June.”
Again: “The king summoned the queen and his eldest son
Edward into France, to treat of a marriage between him and
the daughter of the king of Spain, in the year of our Lord
1254, and the thirty-eighth of king Henry.” Again: “The
same year was sent into Spain, in great state, the king’s
eldest son Edward, to king Alfonso, for the said marriage.”
—Trive. Again: “Queen Eleanor brought forth her son
Edward at Westminster, in the year of our Lord 1239.”

' In the MS. the word is written “P. de Grw,” as though it were
a chronicler’s name. The word “ pedigree’? is meant; and the
common genealogical history of the kings of England, of which so
many copies written on long vellum rolls are still extant, is referred
to. Hearne prints from one of his MSS., at the end of his edition of
Robert of Gloucester, a “ petegreu” of the kings of England from William
the Conqueror to Henry VI. The Harleian MS. 326 has the title:
“Here begynnyt the petegreu of pe kyng pat now ys.” See Skeat,
Notes on English Etymology, 209.

A.D. 1899.

p. 31.

184 THE CHRONICLE OF

A.D. 1399. “Queen Eleanor brought forth her daughter Margaret, in

the year of our Lord 1241.” “Queen Eleanor brought
forth her son Edmund, in the year of our Lord 1245.”’—
Chronicle of Gloucester 1.

On Saint Michael’s day (29th September) there were sent
unto the king in the Tower, on behalf of the clergy, the
archbishop of York and the bishop of Hereford ; on behalf
of the superior lords temporal, the earls of Northumberland
and Westmoreland; for the lower prelates, the abbot of
Westminster and the prior of Canterbury ; for the barons,
the lords Berkeley and Burnell; for the lower clergy,
master Thomas Stow and John Borbach; and for the

1 This passage is interesting, as it throws some light on the story of
the fabrication of a chronicle by John of Gaunt, with a view to make
out a claim to the crown by direct descent, and of the investigation of
the matter by the Privy Council. Hardyng is the author of the story,
and tells it in these words: “ For as muche as many men have been
merred and yit stonde in grete erroure and controversy, holdyng
oppynyon frowarde howe that Edmonde, erle of Lancastre Leicestre
and Derby, wase the elder sonne of kynge Henry the thride, crouke-
backed, unable to have been kynge, for the whiche Edward his yonger
brother was made kynge be his assente, as somme men have alleged,
be an untrewe cronycle feyned in the tyme of kynge Richarde the
seconde be John of Gaunte, duke of Lancaster, to make Henry his
sonne kynge, when he sawe he myght not be chose for heyre apparaunt
to kynge Richarde. For I, John Hardynge, the maker of this booke,
herde the erle of Northumberlande that was slayne at Bramham More
in the time of king Henry the Fourth saie, howe the same king
Henry, upon Saynt Mathee daye, afore he wase made kinge, put forth
that ilke cronycle, claymynge his title to the crown be the seid
Edmonde, upon whiche all the cronycles of Westminstre and of all
our notable monasteries were hade in the counsell at Westmynstre,
and examyned amonge the lordes, and proved well be all theire
chronycles that the kinge Edwarde wase the older brother, and the
seide Edmonde the younger brother, and not croukebacked, nother
maymed, but the semeliest person of Engelonde, except his brother
Edwarde. Wherfore that chronycle which kynge Henry so put furth
was adnulled and reproved ” (ed. Ellis, 1812, p. 353). He goes on to
say that John of Gaunt forged the chronicle in consequence of the
parliament refusing to recognize him as heir to the throne after
Richard, and that he published it by placing copies in different
monasteries. See Arch. xx. 186.

ADAM OF USK 185

commons of the realm, sir Thomas Grey and sir Thomas
Erpingham, knights, to receive the surrender of the crown
from king Richard!. And when this was done, on the
morrow, the said lords, on behalf of the whole parliament
and the clergy and the people of the realm, altogether
renounced their oath of allegiance, loyalty, submission,
service, and what obedience soever, and their fealty to
him, setting him aside, and holding him henceforth not for
king, but for a private person, sir Richard of Bordeaux,
a simple knight; having taken away his ring in token of
deposition and deprival, and bringing the same to the duke
of Lancaster, and delivering it to him in full parliament on
that day assembled. On the same day the archbishop of
York delivered first a discourse on the text: “I have put
my words in thy mouth ”*; and then, having been made
by king Richard his mouthpiece, he, using the first person,
as though the king himself were speaking, read in full
parliament the surrender of his royal rank and the release
of all his lieges and subjects whomsoever from all sub-
mission, fealty, and homage, openly and publicly, as drawn
up in writings. And this surrender, the consent of all and
every in parliament being first called for, was openly and
distinctly accepted. Which being done, my lord archbishop
of Canterbury preached on the text: “A man shall reign
over my people,” * wherein he highly lauded the duke of
Lancaster and his strength and his understanding and his
virtues, exalting him, and deservedly, to be their king;
and, among other things, he spake of the shortcomings of
king Richard, and specially how he had most unjustly
stifled in prison his uncle, the duke of Gloucester, treacher-
ously, and without a hearing or leave to answer; and how
he strove to overthrow the law of the land, to which he

? The Rolls of Parliament (iij. 416) also name sir William Thyrnynge
and sir John Markham, justices, and William de Feriby and Denis
Lopham, notaries.

* 3a; i. 16; 3 1 Sam. ix. 17.

A.D. 1399.

A.D. 1899.

p. 33.

186 THE CHRONICLE OF

had sworn’. And so, in short, although he had sufficiently
made resignation, the sentence of his deposition, drawn up
in writing, by consent and authority of the whole parlia-
ment, was there openly, publicly, and solemnly read by
master John Trevaur of Powis, bishop of St. Asaph. And
so, the throne being vacant, by consent of the whole parlia-
ment, the said duke of Lancaster, being raised up to be
king, forthwith had enthronement at the hands of the said
archbishops, and, thus seated on the king’s throne, he there
straightway openly and publicly read a certain declaration
in writing, wherein was set forth that he, seeing the
kingdom of England to be vacant, by lawful right of suc-
cession by descent from the body of king Henry the third,
did claim and take upon himself the crown as his by right ?;
and that, in virtue of such succession or conquest, he would
in no wise allow the state of the realm nor of any man to
suffer change in liberties, franchises, inheritances, or in any
other right or custom. And he fixed the day of his corona-
tion for Saint Edward’s day (13th October) * next coming.
And for that, through the deposing of Richard late king,
the parliament which was in his name assembled had
become extinct, therefore he ordained a new parliament in
his own name as new king, to begin, by consent of all, on
the morrow of the coronation*. He also thereupon made
public proclamation that, if any thought that he had claim
to do service or office in the coronation, by right of inheri-
tance or custom, he should send in his petition, setting
forth the why and the wherefore, in writing, to the
seneschal of England, at Westminster, on the Saturday

1 This sermon was not delivered by the archbishop till after he had
enthroned Henry.—Rot. Parl. iij. 423.

2 Henry’s challenge of the crown was made before his enthrone-
ment.— Rot. Parl. iij. 422.

8 The Translation of St. Edward the Confessor.

¢ Henry’s first parliament met before the coronation, on the 6th
October, and was then adjourned to the 14th October, the day after
the ceremony. It was dissolved on the 19th November.

ADAM OF USK 187

next following, and that he should have right in all
things.

On the eve of his coronation, in the Tower of London
and in the presence of Richard late king, king Henry made
forty-six new knights, amongst whom were his three sons’,
and also the earls of Arundel and Stafford, and the son and
heir of the earl of Warwick; and with them and other
nobles of the land he passed in great state to Westminster.
And when the day of coronation was come (13th October),
all the peers of the realm, robed finely in red and scarlet
and ermine, came with great joy to the ceremony, my lord
of Canterbury ordering all the service and duties thereof.
In the presence were borne four swords, whereof one was
sheathed as a token of the augmentation of military
honour, two were wrapped in red and bound round with
golden bands to represent twofold mercy, and the fourth
was naked and without a point, the emblem of the execu-
tion of justice without rancour®. The first sword the earl
of Northumberland carried, the two covered ones the earls
of Somerset and Warwick, and the sword of justice the
king’s eldest son, the prince of Wales; and the lord Latimer
bore the sceptre, and the earl of Westmoreland the rod.
And this they did as well in the coronation as at the
banquet, always standing around the king. Before the
king received the crown from my lord of Canterbury, I
heard him swear to take heed to rule his people altogether
in mercy and in truth. These were the officers in the
coronation feast: The earl of Arundel was butler, the ear]

1 The MS. reads forty-two, instead of forty-six knights, and makes
Henry knight four of his sons, in place of three. Holinshed gives the
names of all the forty-six, who were created knights of the Bath. It
is nowhere else said that Richard was present at the ceremony.

* This was the Curtana. The sword borne by the earl of North-
umberland was the one which Henry wore on landing at Ravenspur,
and was called the Lancaster sword. The earl did this service for
the Isle of Man, which had been granted to him immediately on
Henry’s accession.

A.D, 1899.

p. 34.

A.D. 13899,

p. 35.

188 THE CHRONICLE OF

of Oxford held the ewer1, and the lord Grey of Ruthin
spread the cloths.

While the king was in the midst of the banquet, sir
Thomas Dymock, knight, mounted in full armour on his
destrier, and having his sword sheathed in black with a
golden hilt, entered the hall, two others, likewise mounted
on chargers, bearing before him a naked sword and a lance.
And he caused proclamation to be made by a herald at the
four sides of the hall that, if any man should say that his
liege lord here present and king of England was not of
right crowned king of England, he was ready to prove
the contrary with his body, then and there, or when and
wheresoever it might please the king. And the king said:
“Tf need be, sir Thomas, I will in mine own person ease
thee of this office.”

This same sir Thomas had this service by reason of his
manor of Scrivelsby, in the county of Lincoln, and so he
held it by sentence and judgement, in the name of his
mother, who was still living, the lady of that manor, as
against sir Baldwin Frevyle, who claimed this office in
right of his castle of Tamworth*. In this case I was
counsel to sir Thomas, and I drew for him the following
petition to serve as his libel: “Most gracious my lord
seneschal of England, prayeth humbly Margaret Dymock,
lady of the manor of Scrivelsby, that it please your noble
lordship to grant to your said bedeswoman that she may,
at the coronation of our most potent lord the king, do the
service which belongeth to the said manor, by Thomas
Dymock, her eldest son and heir, as proctor of the said
Margaret in this matter, in form following: Prayeth
Thomas Dymock, first-born son and heir of Margaret

1 Holinshed says that sir Thomas Erpingham served the office of
chamberlain, though it was claimed by the earl of Oxford.

2 This was a son of the Baldwin who claimed the office at the
coronation of Richard II. Both families claimed by descent from
the house of Marmion.—Dugdale, Baronage, ij. 103.

ADAM OF USK 189

Dymock, lady of the manor of Scrivelsby, before you, most
gracious lord seneschal of England, that you suffer him
to have the service belonging and due to the manor of
Serivelsby in the coronation of every king of England;
which service sir John Dymock, father of the same Thomas
and husband of the said Margaret, and in right of the same
Margaret, did in the coronation of Richard, last king of
England ; and in possession of which service the ancestors
of the same Margaret, lords of the said manor, have been
from the time of the Conquest till now: to wit, that the
king do make deliver to him one of the best chargers and
one of the best saddles of our lord the king, with armour
and ornaments and appurtenances of the same of full
equipment for horse and rider, just as the king himself

would be armed when going into mortal battle, to the end

that the same Thomas, mounted thus in arms on the same
charger, cause proclamation to be made four times within
the hall at the time of the banquet that, if any man shall
say that Henry, king of England that now is and his liege
lord, is not of right king, nor ought of right to be crowned
king of England, he, the same Thomas, is ready to prove
with his body, where and when and howsoever the
king shall think right, that that man lies. Prayeth also
the same Thomas the fees and rewards belonging to and
wont to be paid for this service when fully discharged,
to be to him rendered and delivered.”! This rough
translation out of French into Latin does not pretend to
be exact ; and so, reader, be lenient.

On this feast, a year past, had Richard late king forced
to depart the realm him who was on this same day crowned
king. Also, he had caused his parliament to be confirmed
at Westminster under pain of full censures by the mouth
of Peter du Bois, the pope’s legate, and by his own
authority. And he had also threatened to destroy with

1 A copy of the petition in French is to be found in Cotton MS.
Vespas, C. xiv. f. 137 b.

A.D, 1899.

p. 36.

A.D. 1399.

190 THE CHRONICLE OF

the last penalties the countess of Warwick, as she sued
for her husband who had been condemned, as told above;
and this he swore he would straightway do, were it not
out of consideration for her sex. On this same coronation-
day he had thought to crown his nephew, the earl of Kent,
at Dublin, with great worldly pomp, king of Ireland, and
had thought to sweep away in destruction many nobles
of the realm of England, who were to be craftily summoned
to that great ceremony, seeking to enrich with their
possessions the same ear] and other young men whom, as
has been said, he had raised up. But this Richard, with
his youthful councillors, may well be likened to Rehoboam,
son of Solomon, who lost the kingdom of Israel because
he followed the advice of young men’. (i Kings xij.)

On the morrow of the coronation, which was the first day
of the new king’s parliament *, the commons presented to
the king their speaker, sir John Cheyne, knight*®. The
king received liege homage from all the lords spiritual and
temporal. Also, the last parliament of the lord Richard,
then king, was declared altogether void. And this took
place on the Tuesday (14th October). On the Wednesday
the king promoted his eldest son Henry, by five symbols,
to wit, by delivery of a golden rod, by a kiss, by a belt, by

1 “Thanne wolde right dome reule, if reson were amongis us,
That ich leode lokide what longid to his age,
And never for to passe more oo poynt fforper,
To usurpe pe service pat to sages bilongith,
To become conselleris er pey kunne rede,
In schenshepe (ruin) of sovereynes and shame at pe last.
For it ffallith as wel to ffodis of xxiiij 3eris,
Or yonge men of yistirday to 3eve good redis,
As becometh a kow to hoppe in a cage!”

Rich. Redeles, iij. 254.
2 See above, p. 186, note 4.

8 Sir John Cheyne had been ordained deacon when young, but
renounced his orders and became a Lollard and a companion of sir
John Oldcastle. For this reason the clergy were hostile to him. He
was accepted as speaker; but immediately resigned. John Doreward
was chosen in his place.—Wylie, Henry the Fourth, i. 51.

ADAM OF USK 191

a ring, and by letters of creation, to be prince of Wales.
Also, the causes of the repeal of that parliament were
declared to be because of the fears of, and threats used
towards, the peers of the realm if they obeyed not the
king’s will; secondly, because of the armed violence of the
king’s supporters, which blazed forth in the parliament ;
and thirdly, because the counties, cities, and boroughs had
not had free election in the choice of the members of the
commons. It was also declared that the parliament of the
eleventh year of king Richard, which was all the work
of the duke of Gloucester and the earl of Arundel, should
remain in full force. Also, that any one who had in any
way been deprived of his right by Richard’s last parliament
should then and there be restored to his own. And the
king also granted and gave over to his eldest son the
principality of Wales, as well as the duchy of Cornwall,
along with the county of Chester.

John Halle, servant of the duke of Norfolk, because he
was present at, and consenting to, the death of the duke
of Gloucester, being condemned by parliament, is drawn,
hanged, his bowels taken out and burned before him, and
while still living is beheaded and quartered; and the
quarter belonging to the right arm is set up on a stake
beyond London-bridge.

At the time of this parliament, two of the king’s servants
dining in London found in five eggs with which they were
served the distinct face of a man, exact in every respect,
and having the white in place of hair standing clear of the
face above the forehead and coming down the cheeks to
the chin ; and I saw one of them.

The lord Richard, late king, after his deposition, was
carried away on the Thames’, in the silence of dark mid-
night, weeping and loudly lamenting that he had ever been

1 He was taken from the Tower, on the 28th October, to Gravesend
and removed thence in the disguise of a forester, to Leeds castle,
in Kent, and eventually to Pontefract.

A.D, 1399.

p. 87.

192 THE CHRONICLE OF

A.D. 1899. born. And a certain knight there present said to him:

p. 38. ©

** Remember that thou, in like manner, didst entreat the
earl of Arundel in all things most spitefully.”

My lord of Canterbury having come back from banish-
ment, and having been restored to his church as against
Roger Walden, prayed of the parliament leave to distrain
the goods of the same Roger, wherever found, on account
of the profits and other his goods received by Roger during
the time of my lord’s banishment, and so to exact and
abate what was due to him; and it was granted. And it
is true that the lord Richard had given to the same Roger
all the furniture and other the. household goods of the same
Thomas, archbishop of Canterbury, as being confiscated, as
he declared, even to the value of six thousand marks,
besides the stock of the manors of the church of Canterbury ;
which goods the said Roger Walden, being raised to the
archbishopric, did hold and enjoy. And of them the earl
of Somerset, when the news came of the landing of the
said Thomas in the kingdom, seized six cart-loads from
the hands of Walden’s servants, which he had sent off to
Saltwood castle for safety, and afterwards delivered all
to the said Thomas. And with regard to this, among other
things, on the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin
(8th September), short time before this parliament, while
I was dining with my said lord after his return at Lambeth,
I saw how the said Roger had taken away and stripped off
from the ornaments of halls and chambers, which belonged
to my said lord Thomas, but which had been turned into
his booty, the arms of my said lord, to wit, those of the
earldom of Arundel with a bordure, which he bore as son
of the noble earl, and had set up and had sewed over them,
in their stead, his own arms: gules, a bend azure and
a martlet or’. However, they lasted not long; for, taking
them down, my lord Thomas again restored his own arms

1 An impression of Walden’s seal with this bearing is preserved in
Westminster abbey.

ADAM OF USK 193

and badges by the skill of the weaver’s handiwork. And
the arms of the said Roger, thus taken down, as I have
said, I saw lying under the benches, a laughing-stock, and
cast and flung out of window by the servants. I was
likewise a witness when the same Roger came to the palace
of my lord bishop of London to seek grace from the duke,
now king, and from my said lord Thomas; which, as far
as his life went, he found. And so Thomas and Roger,
if I may say so, were two archbishops in one church, like
to two heads on one body; that is to say, Roger, then in
possession by right, by the pope’s authority, and my lord
Thomas, because he was not yet restored by the pope, in
possession in fact, by means of the secular arm, which
was all-powerful, because before him alone was borne
everywhere the cross of Canterbury, which had been given
up to him by the said Roger. This Roger was a modest
man, pious and courteous, in speech of profitable and well-
chosen words, better versed in things of the camp and the
world than of the church or the study. First, he was king
Richard’s French treasurer (at Calais), then his secretary,
and at length treasurer of England and the king’s chief
councillor’. Him the town of Walden in Essex saw
exalted from a butcher’s son to the said honours, although
by a too hasty leap. Whence is fulfilled the proverb:
*‘ Quick gains are soon lost”; and, again: “ No man was
ever great all at once.” And hence the verses:—

“ When the grave shall be uncovered, bishop Thomas shall
be gone,
And upon the earth, uprooted, falls the once exalted
stone.”

“ When the grave shall be uncovered”: that is, because
king Richard had it without ceasing in his sleep that the
head of the earl of Arundel was restored to his body;

1 Walden was afterwards restored to favour, and became bishop of
London in 1404. He died in 1406.

O

A.D, 1399,

p. 39.

A.D. 1899,

p. 40,

194 THE CHRONICLE OF

wherefore he caused the tomb to be opened'. “Bishop
Thomas shall be gone”: that is, the banishment of the
same Thomas. “And upon the earth,’ etc.: that is,
Walden; which signifies the setting up of stones. And
this is an ancient prophecy.

The commons prayed of the king, in full parliament,
that he would make grants undeservedly to no man, and
specially of such things as belonged to the crown. And
thereupon the bishop of St. Asaph? burst out in these
words: “This petition is unmannerly and unjust, in that
it argueth for niggardliness in the king, a thing which is
contrary to all royalty, whereunto the bounty of an open

- hand is the rather thought to be seemly. It argueth too that

subjects may fetter their king in his own inborn goodness.
Which things seem to me unworthy. Therefore let not
the king, who giveth, but let him who seeketh unjustly or
unwotthily rather be punished.” And this answer pleased
me, according to the passage in the codex of Justinian:
“ De petitionibus bonorum sublatis.”’®

It was also ordained that the lords of the realm hence-
forth give not their suit or livery of clothes or badges, or
more especially of hoods, to any man, except their own
servants who are always with them, by reason of the many
strifes which had been thereby caused in the realm.

Also, although all those who had been condemned in the
last parliament of king Richard had of pure right been
restored to their own, yet it was not so with the earl of
Warwick, except by special grace, for that he had confessed
that he had traitorously risen up against the king with
the duke of Gloucester and the earl of Arundel.

Also, the king removed the body of the duke of Gloucester
from the distant place on the south side of the church,
where, in dishonour, Richard had caused it to be buried
apart from the kings, and laid it with great pomp in the

1 See Wals. ij. 226; Annales Ricardi IT. 219.
2 John Trevaur. 5 Codex, x. tit. xij. 1. ij.

ADAM OF USK 195

place which the duke had got ready in his life-time,
between the shrine of Saint Edward and the tombs of his
parents, by the side of his wife who had died a short time
before’. And there and then I heard a good sermon on
the text : “Remember the end,”* which the preacher divided
into three parts: firstly, remember thy life; secondly, thy
stewardship ; thirdly, thine end. Again, the first he divided
into three: remember thy life, in its beginning, in its
course, in its departure. So likewise the second: how
thou hast entered upon the stewardship, how thou hast got,
and how thou hast spent. So too the third: remember
thine end, how thou shalt be summoned to judgement, how
thou shalt be tried, and how thou shalt be judged. And
then ended the parliament.

In these days my said lord of Canterbury bestowed upon
me the goodly church of Kemsing along with its chapel of
Seal, in Kent, and the goodly prebend of Llandogo, in the
collegiate church of Abergwili. And the church of Shire-
Newton, in Nether Gwent, which by indulgence of the
see apostolic I had held with other cures, I got to be
given to my cousin-german sir Thomas ap Adam ap
William of Weloc, and his church of Panteg to another
cousin, sir Matthew ap Hoel: to be held by them severally.

[also got, by great good fortune, for sir James de Berkeley,
lord of Raglan *, and for his wife Elizabeth and his heirs,
under the king’s great seal, the confirmation of that and
other their lordships.

1 “Thomas of Woodstock was interred on the south side of the
Confessor’s chapel, beneath the pavement, under a splendid brass
(see Sandford, p. 230), of which nothing but the indentations can
now be traced. His widow lies in the chapel of St. Edmund, under
a brass representing herin her conventual dress as a nun of Barking.”
—Stanley, Memorials of Westm, Abbey (1868), p. 145, note.

2 Ecclus. vij. 36.

8 Sir James Berkeley, younger brother of Thomas, baron Berkeley,
married Elizabeth, daughter of sir John Bloet, with whom he had
the town and castle of Raglan. Dugdale notices the confirmation.—
Baronage, i. 361.

0 2

A.D. 1899,

A.D. 1399,
p. 41.

196 THE CHRONICLE OF

Then, too, I saw with king Henry a greyhound of
wonderful nature, which, on the death of his master the
earl of Kent, found its way by its own instinct to king
Richard, whom it had never before seen and who was then
in distant parts; and whithersoever the king went, and
wheresoever he stood or lay down, it was ever by his side,
with grim and lion-like face, until the same king, as is
before told, fled at midnight by stealth and in craven fear
from his army; and then, deserting him, and again led by
instinct and by itself and with no guide, it came straight
from Caermarthen to Shrewsbury to the duke of Lancaster:
now king, who lay at that time in the monastery with his
army, and, as I looked on, it crouched before him, whom it
had never before seen, with a submissive but bright and
pleased aspect. And when the duke had heard of its
qualities, believing that thereby his good fortune was
foretold, he weleomed the hound right willingly and with
joy, and he let it sleep upon his bed. And after the setting
aside of king Richard, when it was brought to him, it
cared not to regard him at all other than as a private man
whom it knew not ; which the deposed king took sorely to
heart’.

1 By a remarkable coincidence Froissart tells the story of the grey-
hound, though in a different form. He lays the scene at Flint, at
the moment when Henry and Richard are preparing to leave: “ Entre-
tenant que on selloit et appareilloit les chevaux, le roi Richard et
le comte (Henri de Lancastre) devisoient l’un & l’autre de paroles, et
étoient moult fort regardés d’aucuns Londriens qui la étoient; et
avint une chose dont je fus informé que je vous dirai. Le roi Richard
avoit un lévrier, lequel on nommoit Math, trés-beau lévrier outre
mesure; et ne vouloit ce chien connoitre nul homme fors le roi; et
quand le roi devoit chevaucher, cil qui l’avoit en garde le laissoit
aller, et ce lévrier venoit tantét devers le roi festoyer et lui mettoit
ses deux pieds sur les épaules. Et adonc advint que le roi et le
comte Derby parlant ensemble en-mi la place de la cour du dit
chastel et leurs chevaux tous sellés, car tantét ils devoient monter,
ce lévrier nommé Math, qui coutumier étoit de faire au roi ce que
dit est, laissa le roi et s’en vint au duc de Lancastre, et lui fit toutes
les contenances telles que endevant il faisoit au roi, et lui assist les

ADAM OF USK 197

In these days was born at Usk a calf which had two
tails, two heads, four eyes and four ears. Such another
monster saw I also in my youth in the parish of Llancayo,
in the house of a certain woman, Llugu daughter of Watkyn
by name. There was born too, in the parish of Llanbatock,
a boy with one eye only, placed in his forehead.

On the eve of the Epiphany (5th January), the earls of
Kent and Huntingdon and Salisbury thought to slay the
new king by craft and fraud, and to bring back the deposed
king out of prison, for that they had lost their rank as
dukes and the possessions of condemned persons which had
been given to them!. And their chief design was against
the castle of Windsor, privily, with a great power of armed
men, feigning to hold a tourney there, and so seizing the
entrance they would have slaughtered the king and his
sons, and others, his body-servants. But the king, fore-
warned, suddenly hastened to London for safety. Where-
fore the earls of Kent and Salisbury, on their way to the
county of Chester, to get the favour and help of those who
rose in their cause, passed through Cirencester; and there,
on the morrow of the Epiphany, they: were beheaded in

deux pieds sur le col, et le commenca grandement & conjouir. Le
duc de Lancastre, qui point ne connoissoit le lévrier, demanda au
roi: ‘Et que veut ce lévrier faire ?’—‘ Cousin,’ ce dit le roi, ‘ce vous
est grand’ signifiance et & moi petite.’-—‘ Comment,’ dit le duc, ‘]’en-
tendez-vous ?’—‘ Je Ventends,’ dit le roi, ‘le lévrier vous festoie et
recueille aujourd’hui comme roi d’Angleterre que vous serez, et j’en
serai déposé; et le lévrier en a connoissance naturelle; si le tenez
de-lez vous, car il vous suivra et il m’éloignera.’ Le duc de Lancastre
entendit bien celle parole et conjouit le lévrier, lequel oncques depuis
ne voulut suivre Richard de Bordeaux, mais le duc de Lancastre;
et ce virent et scurent plus de trente mille.”—Froissart, iv. 75. See
Wallon, Richard II. ij. 488.

1 Thomas Holland, earl of Kent, was degraded from his dukedom
of Surrey, and John Holland, earl of Huntingdon, from his dukedom
of Exeter, by Henry’s first parliament. John de Montacute, earl of
Salisbury, did not hold a dukedom. The third peer who was thus
degraded was Edward Plantagenet, earl of Rutland, who had been
made duke of Albemarle.

A.D. 1899.

A.D, 1400.

p. 42.

A.D. 1400.

198 THE CHRONICLE OF

a rising of the country people’. And many who were
found with them were led away to Oxford and were there
beheaded ; whose bodies, quartered after the manner of
the flesh of beasts taken in the chase, partly in sacks and
partly slung on poles between men’s shoulders, I saw
carried to London and afterwards salted*. The earl of
Huntingdon also, trying to escape through Essex into
France, was taken by the country people, and, in the very
place where the duke of Gloucester had yielded himself to
Richard late king, he was beheaded by clowns and work-
men *, Regarding which things the king wrote to my lord
of Canterbury ; who thereupon, taking for his text the
words: “ Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,’ 4
made known the news to the clergy and the people of
London, in the form of a sermon; and then, a “Te Deum”
being sung, giving thanks to God he passed in solemn
procession through the city.

Afterwards, many others, amongst whom were: master
Richard Maudeleyn and William Feriby, clerks, and sir
Thomas Shelley and sir Bernard Brocas®, knights, were
drawn and hanged, and, as having knowledge of and as
furtherers of this crime, were lastly beheaded.

And now those in whom Richard, late king, did put his
trust for help were fallen. And when he heard thereof, he

1 They were attacked by the townspeople in the house in which
they had taken refuge, and were forced to surrender. This was on
the 7th January. They were actually beheaded on the next day.—
See Wylie, Henry the Fourth, i. 99.

2 See the Traison et Mort, 246.

8 See Wallon, Richard II. ij. 517. Huntingdon was caught by the
country people and taken to Chelmsford, whence he was sent to
Pleshy by Joan de Bohun, countess of Hereford, one of whose daughters
had married the duke of Gloucester, while the other was the first wife
of Henry IV. She gave up her prisoner to the people, who struck
off his head on the 15th January.—Wylie, i. 101.

* Luke ij. 10.

5 Sir Thomas Shelley, of Aylesbury, was a followér of the earl of

Huntingdon. Sir Bernard Brocas is wrongly named Barnabas in
the MS.

ADAM OF USK 199

grieved more sorely and mourned even to death, which
came to him most miserably on the last day of February,
as he lay in chains in the castle of Pontefract, tormented
by sir [Thomas] Swinford with starving fare’.

‘ This is the only chronicle in which any of Richard’s keepers is
accused by name of having taken a personal part in starving his
prisoner. The MS. reads “ N. Swinford,” Adam not knowing Swinford’s
Christian name, and therefore writing “N.” according to common
practice. Sir Thomas Swinford, afterwards captain of Calais, is meant,
for he is known to have had the custody of Richard (Traison et Mort,
lviij.; Wyntown, ed. Laing, ix. 20, ll. 2001-10). Of the different
theories of Richard’s death, that, which is supported by our chronicle,
of gradual starvation by his keepers seems to be the most probable.
The question has been so fully discussed elsewhere, that it would be
superfluous in this place to repeat what has been so often told before.
As, however, Adam of Usk is a fresh authority, and an important
authority as being a contemporary, for the theory of enforced starva-
tion, it may be well to see what the other early chronicles say on
this point. Walsingham tells us that on hearing of the death of his
friends Richard voluntarily abstained from food. The continuator

of the Croyland chronicle has the same story, which is also found in.

various MSS., such as Cotton MSS. Nero A. vj. and Galba E. vij. The
Annales Ricardi IT. (Rolls series) and Otterbourne follow this account,
but add that after abstaining some time Richard was prevailed on
to try to take food, but that it was too late as he could not swallow.
The Monk of Evesham gives the account of voluntary abstention,
but adds an important passage: ‘‘Aliter tamen dicitur et verius,
quod ibidem fame miserabiliter interiit.” Similarly, the Sloane MS.
1776 has an alternative: “Rex Ricardus primo de Turre ad Leedes
infra Canciam, sub custodia Johannis Pelham ibidem; deinde ad
castrum de Pomfrete, ubi Robertus Watyrton fuerat custos, occulte
deductus est, ubi non habuit spem alicujus relevaminis. Et eciam,
pre nimia amicorum suorum interempcione, dolore, tristicia areptus,
non valuit consolari; nec consolatorem habens, diem clausit extre-
mum, videlicet in festo sancti Valentini. Et qualiter, penitus a nobis
nescitur. Quidam tamen opinantur quod fame miserabiliter ibidem
interiit; hoc est, quod privabatur penitus ab omni sustentacione
naturali, usque ad diem sue resolucionis.” The Kirkstall chronicle,
Cotton MS. Domitian xij., has: ‘ Postmodo Ricardus quondam rex
translatus est de turri Londonie usque ad castrum de Pomfret, ubi,
diu ante mortem pane et aqua ut dicebatur sustentatus, tandem fame
necatus est, secundum communem famam,” in which account it
agrees with Harl. MS. 3600, a copy of Higden’s Polychronicon with
continuation. In other MSS. we find more particulars of the duration

A.D. 1400.

A.D. 1400,

200 THE CHRONICLE OF

At the coronation of this lord three ensigns of royalty
foreshadowed for him three misfortunes. First, in the pro-
cession he lost one of the coronation shoes ; whence, in the
first place, the commons who rose up against him hated

of Richard’s sufferings. The chronicle of Peter de Ickham, in Harl.
MS. 4323, states that, on his removal to Pontefract, “per tempus
certum custodiebatur,” and then, “tandem a cibo et potu per quatuor
aut quinque dies restrictus, famis inedia, cum xxij. annis regnasset,
expiravit.” The same version appears in the chronicles in Cotton
MS. Domitian iv., and Harl. MS. 3906, and again in many copies of
the English chronicle of the Brut. All these authorities are of value,
for, although it cannot be said that they are all contemporary, they
are at least early and sufficiently near the time to show that, from
the first, rumours of Richard's starvation were very generally believed.
Of a later period is the chronicle in Cotton MS. Titus D. x., of the
early sixteenth century, which has a more embellished account: that
Richard, ‘ductus de loco in locum, tandem, ut opinio est vulgi, apud
Pontifractum cibi inedia interiit. Nam dicitur cibaria in singulos
dies, more regio, sibi apposita fuisse, sed esurienti non licuisse degu-
stare.” This appears in an English dress in Harl. MS. 53, a version
of the Brut chronicle: ‘In the first yere of the regne of kyng Henry
the iiijte, kyng Richard, which that was put doune of his rialte, was
in the castell of Pountfret under the ward of sir Robert of Watirton,
knyght, and there he was ich day servet as a kynge aught to be that
he myght se it, but he myght come to non therof. Wherfore sone
aftir he deyd for honger in prison in the same castell, and so he
made his ende.” Holinshed has printed this account, along with
others, of the death of Richard. (For the various discussions on this
subject, see Arch. vol. xx.; Tytler, History of Scotland, vol. iij.; Traison
et Mort de Richart IL., Introduction ; and Wallon, Richard IL, vol. ij.)

The date of Richard’s death is put by Adam of Usk rather later
than in most of the chronicles. The 14th February is the usually
received date. Richard was apparently supposed in France to have
been dead as early as the end of January, a deed of Charles VI., dated
on the 29th of that month, referring to him as “feu nostre tres chier
et tres amé fils Richard” (Rymer, Federa). That such rumours were
current in England is proved by the well-known minute of the Privy
Council to which attention was first drawn by sir Harris Nicolas. The
date of the council at which this minute was passed has been fixed
between the 2nd and the 8th February, and the wording of the
original memorandum to which the minute serves as an answer
implies, although it does not express, an uncertainty as to whether
Richard was actually then living. He was certainly dead by the
17th February, on which date payment was ordered (Pell Issue Rolls)

ADAM OF USK 201

him ever after all his life long: secondly, one of the golden
spurs fell off; whence, in the second place, the soldiery
opposed him in rebellion: thirdly, at the banquet a sudden
gust of wind carried away the crown from his head;

for conveying his body to London. Mr. Wylie (Henry the Fourth, i.
114) is inclined to fix the date of Richard’s death as early as the
middle of January.

An interesting fact in connection with the above-mentioned minute
of the Privy Council has hitherto escaped observation. When examin-
ing the original rough minutes of the council preserved in the
Cottonian library (Cleopatra F. iij. f.9), I was struck with the care
with which an alteration in this particular minute had been made,
and then discovered that the minute as we now have it is not the
one which was first written. This has been destroyed. The first leaf
of the proceedings of this session of the council contains on its face
nine memoranda or heads of business to be discussed, with this title:
“Fait a remembrer de certains matires necessairs a monsterer au
grant conseil du Roy.” The first memorandum is: “ En primes si R.
nadgairs Roy soit uncore vivant a ce que len suppose quil est, ordenez
soit quil soit bien et seurement gardez pur sauvacion de lestat du
Roi et de son Roiaume.” On the back of the leaf are written four
rough minutes in answer to the first four memoranda. The minute
(the one with which we are concerned) which answers to the first
memorandum runs thus: “A le primer article soit parle au Roi qen
cas ge R. soit vivant, quil soit mys en seuretee g. [aggreable a] les
seignurs et ge sil soit mort qadonges il soit monstrez overtement au
poeple quils en puissent avoir conissance.” Now the leaf is composed
of three pieces of vellum which are connected together so as to form
one sheet. The first piece of vellum, which is a very narrow strip,
contains the first memorandum only; the second piece, the second,
third, and fourth memoranda; and the third piece, the rest. The
minutes in answer to the second, third, and fourth memoranda are
written immediately at their back; but the first minute, instead of
being written directly behind its memorandum, and on the first piece
of vellum, as one would expect, is entered below the fourth minute
and on the third piece of vellum. The reason of this is apparent
after examining the different pieces of vellum, for it is clear that
the second piece has been cut away at the top, part of the words
of the second minute having been docked in the process, and that
the first narrow piece is an addition to take the place of what has
been cut away. There can be no doubt that what took place was
as follows :—The first four memoranda were all written on one piece
(now represented, in a curtailed form, by the second piece) of vellum,
and the four minutes were written on the back in proper order. The

A.D, 1400.

A.D. 1400.

p. 43.

202 THE CHRONICLE OF

whence, in the third and last place, he was set aside from
his kingdom and supplanted by king Henry.

And now, Richard, fare thee well !, king indeed (if I may
call thee so) most mighty ; for after death all might praise
thee, hadst thou, with the help of God and thy people, so
ordered thy deeds as to deserve such praise. But, though
well endowed as Solomon, though fair as Absalom, though
glorious as Ahasuerus, though a builder excellent as the
great Belus, yet, like Chosroes, king of Persia, who was

first minute was, however, reconsidered, and was re-written below.
But, as the matter to which it related was one of so serious a nature,
it was thought proper to destroy the original draft. The clerk there-
fore cut it away, and neeessarily, along with it, the first memorandum
on the other side. He then re-wrote the latter on the narrow strip
which he fastened to the head of the sheet, as we now have it. On
the back of this narrow strip is the heading: “L'informacion de
certains matires a monstrer a grant conseil nostre seignur le Roy,”
which, however, has no connection with the minutes, but which
happened to be on the sheet which the clerk used for the fresh
transcript. Asa further proof how anxiously must have been con-
sidered the form in which the minute was to appear, the words:
“seuretee g. les seignurs,” which are an alteration, are written over
an erasure very carefully made; whereas, in the second minute,
which contains no state secret, but which has been much altered,
most of the corrected words are only crossed out with the pen. Sir
Harris Nicolas has made use of the contemporary fair copy of the
minutes in the text of his work (Proceedings of the Privy Council, 1884,
i. 111), and has inserted the rough minutes in a foot-note; but, by
a strange oversight, not noticing that the first rough minute was
written below the others, he has omitted it altogether.

1 A parallel is to be found in a chronicle which exists in two MSS.
in the British Museum : Cotton, Titus D. xv., and Royal 13 A. xix, :—
“Hoc eciam anno Ricardus rex in castello de Pounfreit existens,
postquam audivit certum nuncium de morte comitum Huntyngdonie,
Sarum, et Kancie, et maxime comitis Huntyngdonie, fratris sui,
scilicet Johannis Holland, juravit se cibum nunquam pre dolore
commesturum ; et sic per quinque dies totidemque noctes a cibariis
custoditus circa festum Purificacionis Beate Marie obiit, ut adim-
pleretur prophecia cujusdam militis Francie ad ejus coronacionem
existentis, ubi vidit regis sotularem ad terram cadentem et regem
ad prandium cibum suum evomentem. Quod sic exposuit: ‘Iste
rex gloriosus erit et in cibis valde habundans, sed regni dignitatem
amittet, et in fine pre fame morietur.’”

ADAM OF USK 203

delivered into the hands of Heraclius, didst thou in the
midst of thy glory, as Fortune turned her wheel, fall most
miserably into the hands of duke Henry, amid the smothered
curses of thy people.

Meanwhile the lord Despencer, lord of Glamorgan, as
knowing and abetting the treason, was most foully beheaded
by workmen at Bristol !; and the heads of those who thus
fell were fixed on stakes and were for some time shown to
the people beyond London-bridge. But, seeing that all
these things were done only by the savage fury of the
people, I fear that they will make this a plea to wield still
more in future against their lords the possession of the
sword, which hath now been allowed to them against all
system of order.

Also, all blank charters, in which throughout England his
subjects had placed themselves under their seals at the will
of king Richard, as though there had been a new conquest
of the realm, were publicly carried to London on the points
of spears, and there burned along with their countless
seals.

The bishop of Norwich, uncle of the said lord Despencer,
being accused of the same treason, was not delivered to a
temporal prison, but to the keeping of my lord of Canter-
bury, from reverence for his priestly office, to await judge-
ment. But afterwards the king frankly restored him to his
church and dignity °.

1 Thomas Despencer, baron Despencer, was created earl of Glouces-
ter in 1397, but was degraded from that dignity by parliament in 1399.
His ancestor, Hugh Despencer, the younger, became possessed of
nearly the whole of the county of Glamorgan by his marriage with
Eleanor de Clare, the niece of Edward II. He took part in the
conspiracy, but escaped from Cirencester when Kent and Salisbury
were killed. He was, however, immediately captured and carried to
Bristol, and was there beheaded by the mob, on the 15th January.

2 Henry, bishop of Norwich, was a younger brother of Edward, baron
Despencer, the father of Thomas, baron Despencer, who was killed at

Bristol. His arrest for complicity in the plot does not appear to be
noticed elsewhere.

A.D. 1400.

A.D. 1400.

p. 44.

204. THE CHRONICLE OF

The bishop of Carlisle, late a monk of Westminster, being
accused of the said treason before the king’s justices, was
convicted and condemned by a jury of laymen, and after
languishing for a season in chains in prison in the Tower of
London, his bishopric being given to another, he was sent
back to his old monastery to lead a monk’s life, though
named to the see of Miletus (?)}.

In this year my lord of Canterbury, calling together his
clergy, mournfully laid before them how temporal powers
fear not to violate the liberties of the church of England,
and specially in seizing, imprisoning, and in judging bishops,
without distinction, just as they would laymen. “True! |
my lord,” I said, “in turning over the corpus of the law
and the chronicles more cruelty is found to have been
inflicted on prelates in England than in all Christendom.”
And I quoted the chapter: “Sicut dignum,”? touching
homicide, and many others, and in short, as to the present
case of imprisoning bishops, the Clementine chapter: “Si
quis suadente,” * touching penalties, which was decreed on
account of the imprisonment of the bishop of Lichfield ¢, in
the time of Edward the second, king of England. My lord
of Canterbury then recounted how that but lately Simon

1 Thomas Merke, or Merks, the favourite of Richard II., who
remained true to his master to the last, and who is best known by the
famous speech which Shakespeare puts into his mouth on slender
authority. He was brought to trial at the end of January, and, after
being found guilty, he was deprived of his bishopric. He was removed
from the Tower to the custody of the abbot of Westminster on the
23rd June. On the 28th November he was pardoned, and was after-
wards treated by Henry with lenience and generosity. The pope had
translated him to a titular see, ‘“‘ad ecclesiam de Samastone.” This
see has been variously identified with Samos, Samos in Cephalonia,
and Samothrace. But it has been more recently suggested that it was
Samosata; and that the “ Millatencis pontificatus” of Adam of Usk is
a see (be it that of Miletus or what it may) to which there is some
reason to believe that Merke was translated in 1402 (Dict. Nat. Biog.
xxxvij. 284). He died rector of Todenham in Gloucestershire, in 1409.

2 Decret. Greg. IX., lib. v., tit. xij. §. vj.

3 Decret. Clement. lib. v., tit. viij. §. i. * Walter de Langton.

ADAM OF USK 205

Islip, his predecessor, seeing his suffragan, Thomas Lylde,
then bishop of Ely, dragged as a criminal in Westminster
hall and standing before the judgement-seat of the king’s
justices, did take him by the right hand saying: “Thou
art my subject. Thou art standing in forbidden court
before him who is not thy judge. Come with me.’ And
so, in spite of the judge, he led him away. Yet the bishop,
not daring to remain in England, gat him to the court of
Rome; and there he caused that judge to be excommuni-
cated, and, for that he had in the meantime died, to be
bereft of church burial and cast out into a ditch’.

Having heard that France and Scotland were making
them ready to invade England, the king, taxing only the
lords spiritual and temporal, did spare the commons ”.

The body of lord Richard, late king of England, was
brought to the church of Saint Paul in London, the face not
covered but shown openly to all; and the rites being there
celebrated on that night and a mass on the morrow, he was
buried at Langley among the Dominican friars. My God},
how many thousand marks he spent on burial-places of vain-
glory, for himself and his wives, among the kings at West-
minster! But Fortune ordered it otherwise.

Brother William Botsam died, bishop of Rochester, some-
time of Llandaff, and master John Botsam, chancellor of
my lord of Canterbury, was raised to his place*. There
died also that man of grace, John ap Griffith, abbot of

1 Thomas Lylde (not William Lyle, as in the MS.), bishop of Ely,
was put on his trial and condemned for the homicide, by one of his
servants, of a follower of the lady Blanche de Wake. Godwin
(De presulibus Anglie) seems to imply that Simon Drayton, one of
the judges, was refused burial in accordance with the terms of
excommunication.

2 The lords agreed to furnish ships and men, and to maintain them
for three months; the clergy were to contribute a tenth in lieu of
personal service.—Wylie, Henry the Fourth, i. 125.

8 William de Bottlesham, translated from Llandaff to Rochester in
1389, died in February, 1400. John de Bottlesham, his successor,
died in 1404.

A.D. 1400,

p. 45.

A.D. 1400.

206 THE CHRONICLE OF

Llanthony, who, when his monastery was by accident
burned to the ground, in a few years marvellously restored
it from its foundations. To him succeeded a man of the
highest prudence, John ap Hoel, prior of the same house.

In this Lent, the lads! of the city of London, often
gathering together in thousands and choosing kings among
themselves, made war upon each other, and fought to their
utmost strength; whereby many died stricken with blows,
or trampled under foot, or crushed in narrow ways—much
to the wonder of the people what this might foreshow:
which I believe was the plague that happened next year,
wherein the greater number of them departed this life. Yet
from such gatherings could they not be restrained, until
the king wrote to their parents and masters with grievous
threats to prevent them.

On the third day of the month of May, the prince be-
stowed upon me a prebend in the church of Bangor.

Also, on the fourth day of the same month of May, our
lord the king being seated in judgement in his hall within
the Tower of London in right royal state, my lord Morley,
who had lately appealed the earl of Salisbury of treason ’,
for that the said earl, on the day appointed for the combat,
answered not to the third summons, prayed that he be
adjudged traitor according to the form of the appeal, and
that his pledges be condemned in costs. And I, although
a chaplain, by sentence and judgement made suit in his
name, because the earl, as is aforesaid, was dead. The
other side made exception on his death, that it took place
before the appointed day. Whereupon I rejoined that by
treasonable rebellion he caused his own death, and so he
fell by his own assault, quoting the law: “Si decesserit,”
in the title: “Qui satisdare cogantur”® in the Digest;

1 i.e. apprentices.

2 Thomas de Morley, fourth baron Morley. The trial by battle
was to have taken place at Newcastle-on-Tyne.

3 Digest, ii. tit. viij. 1. 4.

ADAM OF USK 207

and again: “Si homo sisti,” law: “Si eum”!; title:
“Si quis cautionibus”*; and title: “ Judicatum solvi,”
law: “Judicatum”*; and the codex: “ De custodia reo-
rum,” law: “Ad Commentariensem.*” And in short my
side had colour against the pledges of the said earl, and
paid me a fee of one hundred shillings and twelve yards of
scarlet cloth.

In this year, that is, in the year of our Lord 1400, a great
plague prevailed through all England, and specially among
the young, swift in its attack and carrying off many souls.
Then died my lord John of Usk, abbot of Chertsey, together
with thirteen monks. He, of happy memory, an inceptor
in theology, a man surely of the greatest holiness, ever
walking as a servant of the Blessed Virgin, gave up his
soul to the Lord on the day of her Nativity (8th September)
—just as he had ever wished it to happen on that feast,
being born in her parish and baptized at her font in Usk.
Would I might be worthy to go with him on his way!
I was with him in his last moments, and I had his blessing,
wherein I rejoice, in these words: “The blessing which the
Blessed Virgin gave to her son, our Lord Jesus; the blessing
which Isaac gave to his son Jacob, I give to thee.” Being
comforted in his sleep by the Blessed Virgin, as he was
departing he spake thus to his brethren and to me: “ The
enemy laid snares for me, but the Blessed Virgin Mary,
coming with other two ladies to my succour, did utterly
drive him out, giving me comfort that henceforth he should
not trouble me, and that she herself with those two would
not leave me, until she had my soul safe with her.” And
then as it were a gentle sleep fell upon him. And a certain
brother, William Burton, roused him, saying: “Be of good
cheer, for you shall fare well!” The abbot replied: “ Blessed
be God! I shall fare well. Be silent and hearken!” The
monk said : “Unto what shall I hearken?” “The host of

? Digest, ii. tit. ix. 1. 10. ? Thid. tit. xj.
® Thid. xlvi. tit. vij. 1. 6. * Codex, ix. tit. iv. 1. 4.

A.D. 1400,
p. 46.

p. 47.

A.D. 1400.

208 THE CHRONICLE OF

angels singing with sweetest melody, ‘ Come, blessed son of
thy heavenly Father, receive his kingdom for thine eternal
inheritance.’” The other said: “I hear it not. Would I
were worthy to hear!” And so he peacefully rendered his
soul to God.

In the same year the king passed into Scotland with a
great and glorious host to tame the fierceness of the Scots !.
But they, fleeing to places of refuge, laid waste and stripped
their fields and houses and farms, lest they should profit
our king; and, lurking in thickets and in the hiding-places
of secret caves and woods, they withdrew before the king’s
face. Yet did they often issue forth from these lairs, and
in lonely deserts and by-paths they slew and took prisoners
very many of our men, doing us more harm than we did
to them.

On the day of the Decollation of Saint John the Baptist
(29th August) the king returned into England ; and hearing
at Leicester how Owen, lord of Glendower, along with the
Northern Welsh who had raised him up to be their prince,
had broken out into rebellion and had seized many castles,
and how he had burned on all sides the towns wherein the
English dwelt amongst them, pillaging them and driving
out the English, he gathered together the flower of his
troops, and marched his array into North Wales. And the
Welsh being subdued and driven away, their prince with
seven others lay hid for a year among rocks and caves.
With others who yielded peacefully the king dealt gently,
slaying but very few of them, yet carrying away their
chieftains captive to Shrewsbury. But afterwards he set
them free, on condition of pursuing and taking those who
still held out in rebellion in Snowdon and elsewhere.

About the feast of Saint Faith (6th October) ?, the earl

1 Henry crossed the border on the 14th August.

2 The only important success of the English after Henry’s retire-
ment was that won, on the 29th September, by sir Richard Umfraville,
at Redeswere, over a large Scottish force (Wylie, Henry the Fourth,

ADAM OF USK 209

of Northumberland and his son, the lord Henry Percy, had
a great battle with the Scots who were invading England
after the king’s withdrawal; wherein they took one hun-
dred knights and squires of the Scots and put the rest to
flight. The victory was won thus: the English grooms in
the rear, mounting their masters’ horses during the battle,
did very craftily and with success use a stratagem of war,
shouting with one voice: “The Scots flee! The Scots
flee !,” whereat the Scots who fought in the forefront of
the battle were too sorely scared ; and, while they looked
behind them to find out the truth thereof, they fell stricken
down by a storm of blows from maces about their ears and
shoulders.

On the king’s behalf this writ was issued to me, the
writer of this history: ‘“‘The king to his beloved master
Adam of Usk, doctor of laws, greeting. We send unto you,
in writing, under our seal, certain matters of doubt which
concern the estate and honour of our realm, carefully re-
quiring and strictly commanding you that, after examining
into the same with good and mature deliberation and fully
understanding the matter, you do send in writing your
prudent advice and answer, wherein you shall by law
maintain your points in each particular, to us or to our
council, before the feast of Saint Michael next ensuing,

A.D. 1400.

p. 48.

laying aside all excuse and raising no difficulty. And ~

furthermore, on account of the diverse opinions of others
skilled in the law, which perchance might delay the
advancement of that business, we will and command that
you be in your own person before our said council, at
Westminster, on the octave of the same feast, together with
those who shall be joined with you as counsel in that
deliberation, there, all of you, to set forth your advice in
those matters, and to bring those opinions to one end and
conclusion. And this by the troth whereby you are
i. 140). It seems as if Adam had confounded some such action with

the Percys’ victory at Homildon Hill in 1402.
Ee

A.D. 1400,

p. 49.

210 THE CHRONICLE OF

bounden unto us, and as you love the honour and safety
of the estate of our realm, you shall in no wise neglect.
Witness myself at Westminster, on the twelfth day of
September, in the first year of our reign.” }

“Follow questions on articles touching the marriage
entered into between the lord Richard, late king of
England, and the lady Isabella, daughter of the king of
France. And first, the motives and causes leading to the
contract of such marriage do follow :—

“In the treaty late had by reason of the marriage between
Richard, king of England, and the daughter of the king of
France,—a hope being raised that the countless great and
common offences, evils, inconveniences, wrongs, and shedding
of human blood, which by reason of the strifes and wars
between the two kingdoms, etc., have hitherto come to pass,
might henceforth cease; and that, in better wise and more
quickly, good conclusions, peace and concord might be had
between the said kingdoms, long to last in times to come ;
and that the bond of relationship might exist between those
kings and their successors; besides, that friendship and
intercourse might be wonderfully fostered between their
realms and subjects—among other things, it was agreed
that the said queen be joined in marriage with the said
Richard, and that the king of France, in regard of that
marriage, do pay to the said king Richard eight hundred
thousand frances; whereof five hundred thousand francs
have been paid.

“Tt was also agreed that, if after solemnization of the said
marriage the king of England should decease without
children begotten of the said marriage, and if the said

1 A letter, under date of 12th Nov. 1400, was sent to Oxford, sub-
mitting questions on this matter. It is printed in Rymer’s Federa,
but the questions do not appear. Isabella’s dower amounted to
800,000 francs, of which 300,000 were payable on the marriage, and
the remaining 500,000 in five yearly instalments. This last sum was
repayable if Richard died without children by the marriage.

ADAM OF USK 211

queen should survive the king, she being under age or not A.D. 1400.
of the age of twelve years fully completed, then the sum of

five hundred thousand franes, or whatever should have

been paid of the said greater sum over and above the sum

of three hundred thousand franes, be given back to the

said queen: whereunto the said king of England did bind

himself and his heirs and successors and those who should

act for him, and all his goods, moveable and immoveable,

then being and to come; yet did not the consent of the
parliament, that then was, herein intervene.

“Ts the king of England, that now is, herein bound by
the lord king Richard and held to the restoration of the
money so received over and above the three hundred
thousand francs, seeing that, in the aforesaid obligation
entered into, as above, by king Richard, the realm had not
given consent? And, if not, will the causes and suggestions
set forth in the treaty of marriage, and related above,
which seem to have regard to the public weal of both
kingdoms, be of force to compell and bind the king, that
now is, to the restoration of such money?

“ Also, by virtue of the treaty, our lord the king, that now p. 50.
is, at the time when he was earl of Derby, and other lords
more near to the royal blood did one and all, for themselves,
their direct heirs, successors, and executors, by their letters
promise, of their certain knowledge and full will, that, if
the said king Richard should decease before the consumma-
tion of the said marriage, the said queen should be restored,
free and released from all bonds and hindrances of the
marriage and from all other obligations whatsoever, along
with all her jewels and goods, to the king of France, her
father, or to his heir and successor; the said earl and
others, the aforesaid lords, binding and straitly pledging
themselves, their heirs, successors, and executors aforesaid,
and all their goods whatsoever, moveable and immoveable,
then being or to come, on behalf of all and every the afore-
said things to be held, observed, done, and wholly fulfilled,

P 2

A.D, 1400.

p. 51.

212 THE CHRONICLE OF

according to the form and tenour of the said letters
obligatory and of the treaty of and upon the marriage
aforesaid.

“Tt is asked, how far it is to be understood of such goods:
whether only of those which had been delivered with the
queen, or as well those as others which had from that time
until now been gotten by her; and whether the two hun-
dred thousand frances, whereof mention is above made in
the aforesaid treaty of marriage, are to be included under
and in such goods?”

“Follow questions on other articles touching three
millions of crowns to be paid by the king of France to the
king of England :—

“Formerly, in the treaty of final peace between John,
king of France, and Edward, king of England, among other
things, it was agreed that the king of France should pay
to the king of England, or to his deputy, three millions of
crowns of gold, at certain stated terms; to which payment
the king of France, at Calais, whilst he was in the power
of the king of England, did bind himself and his heirs, and
their goods moveable and immoveable. Whereof the moiety
remains to be paid.

“Can the king of England, that now is, justly claim of
the king of France, that now is, such money not yet paid?
And, if not, doth action belong to the executors of king
Edward? And, if so, can the king of England, that now
is, the direct and equitable right being yielded to him by
the executors of king Edward, claim the money as
assignee ?”

“Follows the gist of the letters of the said king of France
upon the aforesaid article, wherein are contained the causes
of such treaty: ‘John, by the grace of God king of France,
to one and all now being and to come. We make known
unto you by these presents that upon all disagreements and
variances whatsoever moved between us, for ourselves and
all those whom it may concern of the one part, and the

ADAM OF USK 213

king of England and all those whom it may concern of
the other part, for the good of peace, it doth stand agreed,
on such a day and in such a place, in manner following:
Firstly, that the king of England shall have such castles
and such places, etc. Also it is agreed that the king of
France shall pay unto the king of England, or to his deputy,
three millions of crowns of gold at certain terms,’ etc.

“ Also, seeing that the king of France, being taken captive
in the wars by the king of England, in the agreement of
final peace did bind himself and his heirs to pay to the
king of England three millions of crowns, whilst the same
king of France was at Calais in the power of the king of
England, no mention being made in the letters of the said
agreement that such payment should be made by reason
of discharge of the ransom of the said king of France, is
that obligation made void in that it is pretended that fear
had influence, notwithstanding that it is well known to
all the world that the sum of money was owing for such
ransom or discharge ?

“ After the said obligation, the aforesaid king of France
being at Boulogne and at liberty, as he declared, did in his
letters recite that article, wherein it is provided that the
king of France should pay to the king of England, or to
his deputy, the said sum at the terms agreed on, as afore-
said; and afterwards in the same letters he makes known
that he had paid to his very dear brother, the king of
England, a certain sum of money in part-payment of the
said larger sum; and in those letters he bound himself and
his heirs, and all their goods whatsoever, to pay to his
said brother the remainder not yet paid, willing that all
other bonds before made in this behalf be altogether
accounted for naught.

“Tt is asked as before in the said article, and especially
whether this second bond of the king of France, made at
Boulogne, concerning the aforesaid sum payable to the
king of England, doth seem to do away with the first bond

A.D, 1400.

p. 52.

A.D, 1400,

214 THE CHRONICLE OF

made to the king of England or in any way to alter the
same, seeing that there appeareth in writing naught dis-
tinctly concerning the consent of the same king thereto.

“ Also, in another article in the same treaty it is distinctly
contained that, the king of France restoring certain strong-
holds, ete., in like manner the king of England is bound
to restore certain other strongholds now held by him and
his men.

“Tf it appear that the king of France hath made surrender
of the strongholds, ete., and hath fulfilled all the aforesaid
on his behalf, but that the king of England hath not
performed his promises, can the payment of the money
promised by the king of France to the king of England,
as it is contained in the treaty, be justly refused ?

“Also, in another article in the treaty whereof mention
is made above, it is contained that the king of France did
promise to deliver certain strongholds to the king of
England, and likewise, after such delivery, that he should
make certain abjurations upon certain rights and jurisdic-
tion and other things; moreover, that he should make to
be delivered in fact and handed over, at a certain time, at
Bruges, to the king of England or his deputies, letters
touching such abjuration and surrender, sealed with his
seal, And the king of England in like manner promised
to surrender certain strongholds, and to renounce his right
touching the crown of France, etc.

“If it appear that the king of France, on his side, at the
aforesaid day and place, was ready to fulfill all the afore-
said, and if it appear that the king of England performed
not the promises made by him in this behalf, nor sent his
messengers to Bruges, within the stated time, to receive the
promises and offerings of the king of France and to fulfill
the promises of the king of England,—can the payment
of the money, as aforesaid, promised by the king of France
to the king of England, be, on account of the negligence
or default of the said king of England, justly refused ?

Ss thal

ADAM OF USK 215

“ Also, if the aforesaid sum not yet paid out of the afore-
said three millions of crowns be owing to our lord the king
of England, by his own right or by the right ceded by the
executors of king Edward, etc., and if it hath so happened
that the same lord the king is held to restore to our lady
the queen, daughter of the king of France, the two hundred
thousand francs, whereof mention is made above,—of such
sums, claimed and owed on this side and that, ought, in
law, a balance thereof to be struck, although the said queen
in this event be deemed a third party, to whom restoration
or payment must be made? Because, although the restora-
tion of the two hundred thousand francs be made to the
queen herself, yet was the bond in the first place agreed
on and settled between Richard, king of England, and
Charles, now king of France. And thus it appeareth that
the king of England, that now is, in his own right or in
that which is ceded to him, can strike a balance between
the same parties.

“ Also, supposing, without prejudice to fact, that the king
of England, that now is, be held, as earl of Derby, to restore
the aforesaid two hundred thousand franes, or can balance
them, as abovesaid, are the other lords, who were bound
along with him as joint-bails or fellow-sureties, held,
according to the terms of their letter, etc., to contribute
toward the payment of those two hundred thousand franes,
or ought the same king first to discount the same two
hundred thousand francs from the goods and jewels of
king Richard ?

“ Also, supposing again, without prejudice to fact, that
the king, that now is, is held to give up the queen with
her goods and jewels without let, according to the tenour
of the clause set forth in the treaty,—can the same king,
that now is, making exception in his own right as king of
England, or in the right ceded to him by the executors of
king Edward, as aforesaid, hinder the surrender of the
aforesaid queen with her goods, etc., and make use of his

A.D. 1400,
p. 53.

A.D. 1400.

p. 54.

216 THE CHRONICLE OF

right of arrest, until the king of France shall be willing
to make satisfaction to the king, that now is, of the
remainder of the three million crowns, which, as is well
known, is still due and unpaid ?

“To put the question shortly :—Can the king of England,
that now is, put forward the aforesaid exception of the
unpaid remainder, or any other exception, which shall
have force to hinder the surrender of the queen with her
goods, until the king of France shall be able to break down
or remove such exception ?

“ Also, the ambassadors of our lord the king, that now is,
at Calais, finally promised in the treaty to the ambassadors
of the king of France to give up the queen with her goods
without let before the feast of the Purification of Our Lady
next following, according to the tenour of the bond thereon
made.

“Tf the council of the king of France, or of the same
queen, shall refuse first of all to give an acquittance in fact
on such surrender, which might sweep away and altogether
root out evils without end and cause of offence and human
bloodshed (and yet it is likely that all these will otherwise
come about byreason of this marriage,as hath often happened
between England and France, in times gone by, in like
conjunctures), can the aforesaid ambassadors thereupon
refuse to give up the queen together with her goods,
notwithstanding promise made, and saving too the honour
of king and kingdom, until the others shall be willing to
deliver such exclusory acquittance, etc. ?

“ Also, formerly in the treaty of final peace, whereof in
the third point above, it was among other things agreed
between the same kings, as is declared, although it
appeareth not in writing, that king Edward should cause
to be driven out and wholly withdrawn, within a fixed
time, at his own cost, all his mercenaries and others his
subjects who were overrunning the realm of France.

“Tf it appear that king Edward fulfilled not his promises

ADAM OF USK 217

within the said term, but did afford in arms help, counsel,
and favour to the same his mercenaries and other subjects,
it being clear as to the said agreement in the first treaty
of peace or after that treaty,—can payment of the said
remainder of the three million crowns be justly refused
on that score?”

On the twenty-fifth day of September, the most noble
lady, my lady Philippa, daughter of my lord the earl of
March, who was wedded first to that most proper youth
the earl of Pembroke who was slain in a tourney at
Woodstock, and next to the noble earl of Arundel who was
beheaded, and thirdly to the lord Saint John, a little while
after she had presented me to the church of West Hanning-
field in Essex, and before she had yet reached her four-
and-twentieth year, went the way of all flesh at Halnaker
by Chichester, and lies buried in the priory of Boxgrove'.

The Lombards and other merchants from beyond seas in
London, who had been wont to dwell in their own inns and
had been allowed freely to offer their merchandise for sale,
were now, after the foreign fashion, so restrained, that they
might not dwell by themselves, but in the house of some
citizen who should stand surety; nor were they allowed
in any way to offer their goods for sale, except under the
care of the same citizen.

The duke of Bavaria, brother of the queen of France,
was, by the aid of the French, raised up to be emperor, the
king of Bohemia, who for long while had held the empire,
being despised as useless and as not yet having been
crowned by the pope; but he was defeated in a stricken
field together with many of the French by the same king ?.

1 Philippa, daughter of Edmund, third earl of March, married first
John Hastings, third earl of Pembroke, killed 30th December, 1391,
et. 17; secondly, Richard Fitzalan, fourth earl of Arundel; and
thirdly, Thomas Poynings, baron Saint John.

2 Wenceslaus, or Wenzel, king of Bohemia, who became emperor
in 1878, was deposed by a majority of the electors in 1400; and

A.D. 1400.

p. 55.

A.D. 1400.

p. 56.

218 THE CHRONICLE OF

Four little bells, hanging at the four corners of the
shrine of Saint Edward at Westminster, ringing of their
own accord and with more than human power, miraculously
sounded four times in one day, to the great awe and
wonder of the brethren.

The spring wherein the head of Llewellyn ap Griffith,
last prince of Wales, was washed after that it was cut off,
and which is in the village of Builth, throughout a livelong
day did flow in an unmixed stream of blood 1.

One thing in these days I grieve to tell, to wit, that two
popes, like to a monster in nature, now for two and twenty
years *, most wickedly rending the seamless coat of Christ,
contrary to the words of the Song of Solomon: “My dove
is but one,” *® have too sorely vexed the world by leading
astray men’s souls, and racking their bodies with divers
terrors. And woeful it is, if it be true what I call to mind
in the text of Scripture: “ Ye are the salt of the earth; but if
the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted ?
It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and
to be trodden under foot of men.’* Whence, seeing that
the priesthood was become venal, did not Christ, making
him a scourge of small cords, drive out them that bought
and sold in the temple? And hence I fear lest we, with
many stripes and spurnings, be cast out from the glory
of the priesthood. For I take heed that in the Old

Rupert III., a duke of Bavaria and count-palatine of the Rhine, was
chosen in his place. The new emperor succeeded in overcoming
opposition, and was crowned on the 6th January, 1401. Adam is
wrong in calling him the brother of the queen of France. Isabella
of Bavaria, queen of Charles VI., was of another family, being the
daughter of Stephen, duke of Bavaria-Ingolstadt.

1 Llewellyn was defeated and slain by John Gifford and sir Edmund
Mortimer, in 1282. His head, with a silver crown on it, was set up in
Cheapside, in derision of the prophecy that he was to wield the
sceptre of Brutus and ride through Cheapside with a crown on his
head.—Thomas, Memoirs of Owen Glendower (1822), p. 13.

? The papal schism began in 1378, by the elections of Urban VI and
Clement VII. > Ch, vj. 9. * Matt. v. 13.

ADAM OF USK 219

Testament, after that venality had corrupted the priest-
hood, the cloud of smoke, the unquenchable fire, and the
sweet smell which hurteth not ceased in the temple. In
short, lo! the virgin mother, according to the word of
Revelation !, hath fled with the man child into the wilder-
ness from the face of the beast that sitteth upon the throne.
But here Plato bids me hold my peace; for there is
nothing more certain than death, nothing more uncertain
than the hour of death. And so, blessed be God}, I, already
making my preparation for death, leave in my native
church, that is, of Usk, my memorial in a suitable missal,
and a grail, and a tropar, and a sequence-book, and an
antiphonal, newly written and drawn up with new additions
and notes, and in a full suit of vestments, with three copes,
broidered with my bearings, that is: on a field sable, a
naked man delving ; and I commend myself to the suffrages
of prayers offered up therein. Further, I have in view, if
God grant it, to adorn the same church with more worthy
repair, to the glory of the Blessed Virgin, in honour of
whose Nativity it is dedicated; yet do I not reckon this
to mine own praise, for God forbid that this record of my
foolishness should be seen in my lifetime!

The eldest son of France was made duke of Aquitaine,
in disinheritance and in defiance of the king of England ;
and, he dying, the second son, taking his place, passed
with an army into the parts of Aquitaine to subdue it”.

The emperor of the Greeks *, seeking to get aid against
the Saracens, visited the king of England in London, on

1 xij. 14.

2 Louis, duke of Guienne and dauphin of France, at this time
only six years old, did not die till 1415, when he was succeeded by his
brother John, who, in his turn, died in 1417, and gave place to Charles,
afterwards king.

8 Manuel II. Paleologus. He travelled into western Europe at this
time, in order to solicit help against the Turks who were besieging
Constantinople. He landed in England on the 11th December. See
Wylie, Henry the Fourth, ch, ix.

A.D. 1400.

A.D. 1400,

Pp. 57.

220 THE CHRONICLE OF

the day of Saint Thomas the Apostle (2lst December),
being well received by him, and abiding with him, at very
great cost, for two months, being also comforted at his
departure with very great gifts. This emperor always
walked with his men, dressed alike and in one colour,
namely white, in long robes cut like tabards; he finding
fault with the many fashions and distinctions in dress of
the English*, wherein he said that fickleness and change-
able temper was betokened. No razor touched head or
beard of his chaplains. These Greeks were most devout
in their church services, which were joined in as well by
soldiers as by priests, for they chanted them without dis-
tinction in their native tongue. I thought within myself,
what a grievous thing it was that this great Christian
prince from the farther east should perforce be driven
by unbelievers to visit the distant islands of the west, to
seek aid against them. My God! What dost thou,
ancient glory of Rome? Shorn is the greatness of thine
empire this day; and truly may the words of Jeremy
be spoken unto thee: “Princess among the provinces,
how is she become tributary!” 2 Who would ever be-
lieve that thou shouldst sink to such. depth of misery,
that, although once seated on the throne of majesty thou
didst lord it over all the world, now thou hast no power
to bring succour to the Christian faith ?

The king kept Christmas with the emperor at Eltham.

My lord of Canterbury sent the abbot of Leicester and
me to the nuns’ priory of Nuneaton, in the diocese of
Lichfield, to make inquest against sir Robert Bowland,
touching divers crimes, heresies, and errors there, as was

1 These were the “duche cotis,” as Langland (Richard the Redeles)
calls the German-cut clothes said to have been imported with Anne
of Bohemia, conspicuous with

‘*A wondir curiose crafte y-come now of late,
That men clepith kerving pe clope all to pecis,”
and with “‘sleves pat slode uppon pe erthe.”

? Lament. i. 1.

ADAM OF USK 221

evilly spread abroad, by him, like a serpent under the
disguise of pretended holiness, wickedly committed. And
then and there we found that a certain nun,(by the un-
bounded lust of the same Robert, had become pregnant
in an unnatural way, ) as appeared as well by the confes-
sion of the same nun as by the letters of the said Robert,
and also by a view of her body taken by matrons before
the birth; and that she had thereby, on the feast of Saint
Petronilla (31st May) last past, borne a daughter who was
like to the said Robert. And this did Robert himself
confess in full convocation of the clergy.

On the octave of Saint Hilary (20th January), the king
held a solemn parliament in London, at Westminster.
And my lord of Canterbury held a great convocation of
the clergy in St. Paul’s church’.

In the time of this parliament, the lord Grey of Ruthin,
heir by intestacy of the earl of Pembroke and lord of
Hastings, being admitted in the court of chivalry of
England, moved a costly suit against the lord Edward
Hastings, touching the arms of Hastings, to wit: a manche
or, on a field gules, which the latter bore as his rightfully,
claiming thus to be heir in this behalf. And herein he
retained me of his counsel. In this suit, the lord William
Beauchamp, lord of Bergavenny, for that he, by gift of
the said earl if he should die without heirs of his body
begotten, with the king’s leave, had a moiety of that lord-
ship and of others which belonged to the earl, for his own
advantage worked manfully with the said lord Grey; and
no wonder, for the victory of the said Edward would cause
both to be utterly barred °.

1 The members of parliament assembled on the 20th, but the session
actually commenced on the 21st January. Convocation met on the
29th of the month.

2 Reginald, baron Grey of Ruthin, grandson of Roger, baron Grey
of Ruthin, by Elizabeth, daughter of John, baron Hastings (0b. 1313),
was adjudged heir of John Hastings, third earl of Pembroke (0b. 1391),
great-great-grandson of the same baron Hastings. Edward, baron

A.D, 1400,

p. 58.

A.D, 1401.

A.D, 1401,

p. 59.

222 THE CHRONICLE OF

In convocation, a certain sir William Sawtre, chaplain,
being found guilty of, and condemned for, heresy, straight-
way, on such sentence being delivered against him, with
great heat spake to my lord of Canterbury these words:
“TI, sent by God, declare to thee that thou and all thy
clergy and the king also shall die anon an evil death;
and the tongue of a strange people shall hold sway in the
land. And this evil standeth waiting even in the gates.”
And he being thus condemned, having first been solemnly
degraded, was afterwards, in Smithfield, in London, chained
standing to a post in a barrel, packed round with blazing
faggots, and was thus burned to ashes}.

In the time of this parliament, at Lent, one William
Clerk, a writer of Canterbury, but born in the county of
Chester, was condemned by judgement of the court mili-
tary, and was first reft of his tongue, for that he had
uttered against the king wicked words, laying them to
the charge of others, and then of his right hand where-
with he had written them, and lastly by penalty of talion,
because he made not good his charges, was beheaded at
the Tower.

Ambassadors of state, on behalf of the duke of Bavaria,
who had been, as above said, lately elected to the empire,

Hastings, was son of Hugh, baron Hastings, of Gressing Hall, co. Norf.,
great-grandson of the half-blood of the same John, baron Hastings.
William Beauchamp, baron Bergavenny, was son of Thomas Beau-
champ, earl of Warwick, by Katherine, daughter of Roger Mortimer,
earl of March, and sister of Agnes, wife of Lawrence Hastings, first
earl of Pembroke and lord of Bergavenny. ‘The suit for the arms
was decided in favour of lord Grey, after lasting twenty years.

1 William Chatrys, or Sawtery, or Sawtre, formerly chaplain or
parish priest of St. Margaret’s, King’s Lynn, and of Tilney, co.
Norfolk. He was charged with heresy before Henry Spencer, bishop
of Norwich, and was condemned; but he recanted and was pardoned,
6th February, 1400. He then became chaplain of St. Osyth in
Walbrook, and, again preaching heresy, he was brought before con-
vocation, 12th February, 1401. He was convicted, publicly degraded
in St. Paul’s on the 26th February, and burned on the 2nd March.

i ee

ADAM OF USK 223

arrived in England, for the marriage of the king’s daughter
with him’, And I said to them aside: “Is not the king
of Bohemia elected and in possession of the empire? Why
then this new election, with the former one not quashed ?”’
One of them, who was a priest of rank, answered me:
“ Because he was useless, and, as he was not yet crowned
by the pope, the electors have thus done in this behalf”
Then said I: “ By the chapter: ‘ Venerabilem,’ in the title:
‘De electionibus, ? it is acknowledged that this power
belongeth to the pope alone, because he himself did carry
over the empire from the Greeks to the Germans.” ‘Then
the bishop of Hereford bade me hold my peace.

From this priest I had these two verses against simony,
which did please me :—

“These two evils shalt thou bear, if that thou be Simon’s
heir:
Thou shalt burn when thou art dead; living, thou shalt
want thy bread.”

But now as to what is touched on above concerning the
election of the emperor, and how many and what crowns
he hath, and by whom he is elected and receives them, and
what they mean. There are seven electors, whence these
verses :—

“From Maintz and Trier and eke Cologne
Come chancellors for Czesar’s throne.
A steward, the palgrave serves his lord ;
And Saxony doth bear the sword.

1 Negotiations for the marriage of Henry’s daughter, Blanche, with
Louis Barbatus, son of Rupert, count-palatine and emperor of Ger-
many, which took place in 1402. Rupert sent three commissioners
to treat with Henry, on the 9th January. Two of them were knights ;
the third was ‘‘Thilmannus de Smalenborch, decanus ecclesie Beate
Marie ad gradus Coloniensis,” the priest of rank with whom Adam
conversed (Federa, viij. 170). The terms of the contract of marriage
were settled by the 7th March.

* Decret. Greg. IX, lib. i. tit. vj. § 34.

A.D. 1401.

A.D, 1401.

p. 60.

224 THE CHRONICLE OF

As chamberlain a marquis bends ;
Bohemia’s king the wine-cup tends.

On whom these princes’ choice doth fall,
He reigneth over-lord of all.”!

Extract: “De re judicata”; chapter: “ Ad apostolica ” ;
penultimate gloss of Johannes Andres ?.

The first crown, which is of iron, in token of valour,

shall the archbishop of Cologne give to the elect; the
second, of silver, in token of chastity, shall the archbishop
of Trier give; the third, of gold, in token of excellence,
shall the archbishop of Maintz give, and this last shall the
pope, in the confirmation of the elect, place upon his head
as he kneels at his feet in token of humility and to do
honour to the holy Roman church, whose vassal he is.
* It was ordained, in this parliament, that the men of the
marches might use reprisals against Welshmen who were
their debtors or who had injured them, a truce of a week
for making amends being first had °.

Also, on behalf of the prelates, it was proposed that,
whereas they are summoned to parliament as barons and
so hold their temporalities of the king, therefore their rank
is not lower than that of the other patrons of the kingdom,
as to collation of benefices. But the commons stood out
for papal provision in relief of the universities and the
clergy. The prelates then undertook of their own free

1 Another version of the lines appears in the Antwerp edition of
the Sextus of 1573:

“Magna Maguntia, crassa Colonia, Treveris alma,
Atque Palatinus dapifer, dux portitor ensis,
Marchio prepositus camere, pincerna Bohemus,
Romanum regem statuendi dant sibi legem.”

2 Sext. Decret. lib. ii. tit. xiv., ““De sententia et re judicata,”
§. ij., “ Papa Imperatorem deponere potest ex causis legitimis,” begin-
ning with the words “ Ad apostolice.”

3 See Rot. Parl, iij. 474, for the ordinance sanctioning reprisals
against the Welsh.

SS ae Oe

ADAM OF USK 225

will to make provision of benefices within the kingdom A.D. 1401.
to pious clerks’.

I knew a certain monk in the Charter-house, near to
London, who was of good health and strong, though he
fasted of his own will from all kinds of food for a whole
fortnight together. Whereupon the prior of the house,
whose counsel I was, put the question to me, whether, if
the man should in such case die, he would deserve to enjoy
church burial.

In this parliament and convoeation there were granted
unto the king by the clergy a tenth and a half, and by the
people a fifteenth of all goods, with two shillings from
every tun of wine, and from other merchandise eight pence
in the pound, though with much murmuring and smothered
curses of clergy and people.

This parliament was ended on the tenth day of the month
of March ; about which time, a little before, I heard debated
very many harsh things to be put in force against the
Welsh, to wit: that they should not marry with the
English, nor get them wealth nor dwell in England, and
many other grievous things. And, as God knoweth me,
the night before, there roused me from my sleep a voice
thus sounding in mine ears: “The plowers plowed upon
my back,” etc., “The Lord is righteous,’ etc., as in the
psalm: “Many a time have they afflicted me.”? Whence p. 61.
having awoke, and dreading that that day should bring me
forth some mishap, I fearfully commended myself to the
special governance of the Holy Ghost °.

1 See Rot. Parl. iij. 458, 465, touching relaxation of the statute of
provisors, The commons petitioned, on behalf of the universities
of Oxford and Cambridge, that the king would hold them in special
remembrance, “‘queux sont founteins de Clergie en ceste Roialme,
et par especial les Graduatz, en relevation et sustentation de la Clergie
et de la Foie Catholike.”

* Pa. cxxix.

3 See the ordinances, 18th March, 1401. Federa, viij. 184.

Q

A.D. 1401.

226 THE CHRONICLE OF

Here followeth the year of our Lord 14013,

The earl of Warwick, a man of most kindly nature, of
whom I have spoken above, having been delivered from
prison *, was taken from this life on Good Friday (1st April),
a day which he was wont to honour by large alms, penances,
and other deeds of devotion in many ways, and changed
the fleeting things of earth for those which last for ever
in heaven, leaving an only son his heir, to whom the king,
giving him grace of two years of nonage, delivered his
inheritance.

William ap Tudor and Rhys ap Tudor, brothers, natives
of the isle of Anglesey, or Mona, because they could not
have the king’s pardon for Owen’s rebellion *, on the same
Good Friday seized the castle of Conway, which was well
stored with arms and victuals, the two warders being slain
by the craftiness of a certain carpenter who feigned to come
to his accustomed work; and, entering therein with other
forty men, they held it for a stronghold. But, straightway
being beleaguered by the prince and the country, on the
twenty-eighth day of May next following they surrendered
the same castle, cowardly for themselves and treacherously
for their comrades ; for, having bound nine of their number,
who were very hateful to the prince, by stealth as they slept
after the night watches, they gave them up, on condition
of saving their own and the others’ lives. And the nine
thus bound and yielded up to the prince they straightway
saw drawn, disembowelled, hanged, beheaded, and quar-
tered.

? Commencing in the Old Style on the 25th March.

* He was set at liberty by Henry, and was restored in blood and
honours, in 1899. The date of his death is usually stated to be the
8th April.

8 William ap Tudor and Rhys ap Tudor were excepted, with Owen
Glendower, in the pardon granted to the people of Anglesey,
Merioneth, etc., 10th March, 1401. They surrendered the castle on
condition of pardon.

ADAM OF USK 227

At this same time certain men of the town of Usk,
secretly leaving the church during the service of the
Passion of our Lord, entered by craft into the castle, and,
breaking his prison, set free one John Fitz Pers, late
seneschal therein, who, having been accused by evil report
of adultery with a certain lady’, had been, to all men’s
wonder, condemned to mortal penalty by sir Edward
Cherleton, who was only her natural brother, and now lay
naked undergoing punishment; and they gave him up,
to their great delight, to the lord Bergavenny in his castle.
Yet he was afterwards on this account exiled by the king
for seduction.

In these days [Tamerlane], the son of the king of Persia,
conquered and took captive in a stricken field the soldan
of the Turks of Babylon, called “ Ilderim,” *? who had struck
great dread into Christendom, as boasting that he would
destroy the faith, and who had been wont to invade the
Christians, and especially the Hungarians, with a hundred
thousand warriors; and he utterly destroyed Jerusalem,
and held those parts with great state. Wherefore the
pilgrimage of Christians to those parts is now hindered.

On the first day of May, at Norton St. Philip, the cloth
merchants slew, in the middle of the market-place, a certain

? The words “de adulterio cum domina quadam quia diffamatum ™
are an alteration from “propter adulterium cum domina... .”
The erased words are probably “de Usk priorissa.” I suppose that
Adam means to say that the lady was a natural sister of sir Edward
Cherleton. The words “mirabiliter” and “in ipsius.... grates”
are also written on an erasure. And “hac de causa” seems to be
a correction on “acta causa.”

2 The MS. reads “ Aremirandine,” which may be a corruption of
the name “Ilderim” (or Thunderbolt) given to Bajazet I. on account
of his astonishing conquests; or, perhaps more probably, of a title
compounded of amir. Walsingham and other chroniclers refer to
the battle as being fought against Balsak or Bassak, a son of Bajazet,
who was named ‘“ Admiratus”: a title in which may be recognized
the origin of our word “admiral.” Bajazet was defeated and taken
prisoner by Tamerlane at Angora, 28th July, 1402.

Q 2

A.D, 1401,

p. 62,

A.D. 1402,

A.D, 1401,

A.D. 1401,

p. 63.

228 THE CHRONICLE OF

servant of the king!, who, bearing royal letters, sought to
exact for sale of such cloths, contrary to the king’s promise
made on his happy coming into the land, a tax, rate, or
due, which had been remitted. Wherefore, because the
king’s justices, although peers of the realm, were unable
to punish such excess, on account of the resistance of the
country people, the king in his own person coming to
the place settled the disturbance in some way, though with
gentle punishment.

Another such tax-gatherer, at Dartmouth in the county
of Devon, being attacked by the people, seized a boat and
hardly got out to sea.

At Bristol, the wives, acting the part of their husbands,
gave the gatherers a like rebuff, sometimes giving and
receiving wounds.

The lord of the Orkney Isles*, to the great injury of
my lord of March, who was still in wardship of the king,
thought good to attack Ulster in Ireland belonging to
the earl.

On the feast of the Ascension of our Lord (12th May), in
this year, the villeins of Bergavenny rose against their
lord, the lord William Beauchamp °, and, setting free, at
the very gallows, three men condemned to death for theft,
who on that same day, at the will of that second Jezebel,
the lady of the place, without reverence to festival or time,
were to be hanged, overwhelmed with a flight of arrows
sir William Lucy, knight, who had been appointed to the
execution.

On the eve of the Apostles Peter and Paul (28th June),
Isabella, daughter of the king of France, queen of England
and wife of Richard late king of England (though not yet

1 His name was Thomas Newton. The riot took place rather earlier
in the year.—Wylie, Henry the Fourth, i. 198.

2 Apparently Henry Sinclair, second earl of Orkney. Henry, the
first earl, died about 1400, but the exact date is uncertain.

% William Beauchamp, baron Bergavenny, married Joan, daughter of
Richard Fitzalan, earl of Arundel (0b. 1397). She died in 1435.

ADAM OF USK 229

eleven years of age), after much treating thereon, departed A.D. 1401.
from London to go to her father, clad in mourning weeds,
and showing a countenance of lowering and evil aspect to
king Henry, and scarce opening her lips, as she went her
way. Concerning her departure, of which I was witness,
the people were moved, and those in power chafed, some
cursing her coming into this land, as being the cause
of all its troubles, others declaring that, now she was
gone, she would bring on us greater worry by the kindling
of her vengeance for the death of king Richard, her late
husband.

In this year of our Lord 1401, on the feast of the
Commemoration of Saint Paul (30th June), a certain king
of arms of Scotland, called in English a herald, was, for
evil things spoken by him against king Henry in the
kingdom of France, condemned by the court of chivalry,
being first stripped of his badges and with his face turned
to his horse’s tail, to ride through London and then to
have his tongue cut out’. But the king sent him back
to the king of Scotland, his master, with letters setting
forth his disgrace, in a more handsome way than that
same ride.

On the same day was a great suit in the same court
between the lord Grey of Ruthin, for whom I appeared,
and the lord Edward Hastings, for the arms: on a field
gules, a manche or, whereof above, which were formerly
those of the lords of Bergavenny; and between sir John
Colvylle of Dale *, against whom I pleaded, and sir Walter p. 64.
Byttervey, of the county of Salop, knights, for the arms:
on a field or, a fess, three torteaux in chief gules ; judgement

1 His name was Brice or Bruce. He had been seized and committed
to the Tower on the 25th May.—Wylie, Henry the Fourth, i. 1938.

? Executed, in 1405, for complicity in archbishop Scrope’s rising.
Shakespeare introduces him in the Second Part of king Henry the
Fourth (act IV. sc. iij.) as Falstaff’s prisoner. An impression of his
seal of arms, with the bearings mentioned in the text, is in the
British Museum, no. xlix. 17.

A.D. 1401.

230 THE CHRONICLE OF

of possession being refused to both sides, and they urging
the suit with much heat.

All this summer, Owen Glendower, with many chieftains
of Wales, who were held for exiles and traitors to the king,
lurking in the mountainous and wooded parts, sometimes
pillaging, sometimes slaying their foes who laid snares
and attacked them, harassed with no light hand the parts
of West and North Wales ; and they took prisoner the lord
Grey }.

The French invaded and seized to their own use a great
part of Gascony, which clave to England, and specially all
the county of Perigord ?, to wit, the city itself with thirty
castles and all the lands of the same county. I saw the
count, on the abovesaid day, come to the king to tell him
of these things.

Then also I saw some lords of Ireland who loudly com-
plained before the king against the fierceness of the Irish
mercenaries.

Tideman, bishop of Worcester, sometime monk of Hales,
whose counsel I had been, and whom king Richard, after
that he had been driven forth from his monastery for the
evil arts of brewing charms and weaving spells, raised up
to be bishop, first of Llandaff, and then of Worcester, ended
his days on the sixth day of June*®. Wherefore the king
wrote to the pope on behalf of master Richard Clifford,
keeper of his privy seal, that it would please him, having
changed the provision of the church of Wells,—which had

1 Glendower’s rebellion first arose out of a quarrel with lord Grey
of Ruthin. Grey was taken prisoner early in 1402, and paid 10,000
marks for his ransom.

2 Archambaud IV., count of Perigord, was, for rebellion, deprived
of his county and condemned to death, in April 1398 ; but the capital
sentence was remitted. He fled to England at the end of the year.
His son, Archambaud V., was likewise banished in the following year.
The county of Perigord was given to Louis, duke of Orleans.

5’ Tideman de Winchecumb, abbot of Beaulieu, bishop of Llandaff,
5th July, 1393; translated to Worcester, 25th January, 1396.

ADAM OF USK 231

been made to the same Richard, who however had not yet
been consecrated by reason of the king withstanding it,—
to make provision to him of the church of Worcester, and
to master Henry Bowet, doctor of laws (with whom I had
been retained), of the church of Wells, which had now
been vacant for a year and a half on account of the said
resistance ?.

On the same feast of Commemoration of Saint Paul
(30th June), the lord George, earl of Dunbar in Scotland *,
became the liege-man of the king of England, yielding up
to him all his possessions and strongholds held in the
kingdom of Scotland; but it was said that the Scots,
forestalling this his deed, seized the same to the use of the
king of Scotland, so that such homage and surrender
seemed to do but little profit, aye very little, to the king
of England.

Behold!, there was sent to king Henry the following
letter °, suiting well with the times: ‘“ Most illustrious

1 Richard Clifford, dean of York, bishop of Worcester, 1401;
translated to London, 1407. Henry Bowet, archdeacon of Lincoln,
bishop of Bath and Wells, 1401; translated to York, 1407.

2 George, earl of Dunbar and March, renounced his homage to his
king on the 25th July, 1400. He had taken offence because the duke
of Rothsay; son of king Robert III., had broken a contract to marry
his daughter. He returned to Scotland in 1408.

8 This letter was addressed to Henry by Philip Repyngdon, or
Repington, then abbot of the monastery of St. Mary de Pré at
Leicester. Repyngdon had been an active supporter of the tenets
of Wycliffe, but abjured in 1882. He was abbot of St. Mary de Pré
from 1394 to 1404; chancellor of the university of Oxford in 1397,
and again in 1400-1402; bishop of Lincoln, 1405-1419. He was
made a cardinal by Gregory XII. in 1408. He resigned his bishopric
on the 10th October, 1419; and died probably in 1424. Henry, on
his accession to the throne, made Repyngdon his chaplain and con-
fessor, and admitted him to his friendship. An interesting anecdote,
illustrating their intimate relations, is told in the MS. register of the
charters of Leicester abbey (Cotton MS., Vitellius F. xvij. f. 42 b),
and is quoted, not quite accurately, by Tanner (Bibliotheca, 622). It
is to the effect that, immediately after his victory at Shrewsbury,
Henry sent a special messenger to Repyngdon: ‘“‘ Memorandum quod

AD. 1401,

p. 65.

A.D, 1401.

p. 66.

232 THE CHRONICLE OF

prince and most serene lord, may it please your highness,
with your wonted graciousness, to look favourably upon
me your highness’s servant, who, filled heart and soul with
grief, lie prostrate at your feet. Whereas your singular
serenity did require of me, the least of your servants, when
last I went out from before you with heavy heart, that, if
I should hear aught adverse, I should make it known unto
your excellency without delay, now, as your most obedient
servant, do I take my pen in my hand to show what I have
heard and seen. Truly, most noble prince, as the wise
Solomon doth bear witness in the Proverbs of the Holy
Ghost: ‘Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the
kisses of an enemy are deceitful,’ ' therefore, as a true
lover of you and of your kingdom, and, according to my
strength, a faithful servant to God and to you, I have
chosen, with the psalmist?, rather to be ‘a doorkeeper in
the house of my God,’* for the truth’s sake, than, with
traitor Judas, to live amongst kingly pleasures and carry
on my lips the kiss of flattery. Therefore, dissolved in
tears, and my heart torn with wounds by reason of my
grief, I declare with the prophet that ‘they which call thee
blessed cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy
paths.’* And hence, of such great desolation in the hearts
of the prudent, for the disorder and tumult which they

Henricus quartus, finite magno bello in campo Salopie et victoria
habita, confestim fecit proclamacionem per totum exercitum suum
si aliquis servus abbatis Leycestrie fuerit ibi. Statim venit unus
servus dicti abbatis, cui rex tradidit annulum de digito suo, donans
ei c. solidos, precipiendo quod cum omni festinacione pergeret ad

-lominum Philippum, abbatem Leycestrie, et nullo modo quiescat,

conec traderet ei dictum annulum, et diceret ei quod rex vivit,
habens victoriam de inimicis suis, benedictus Deus!” The same MS.
recurds (f. 43) Repyngdon’s gift to the abbey of a small cross of gold,
whici. had been given to him by Henry. Adam was associated with
him in the enquiry at Nuneaton: above, p. 220.

1 Prov. xxvij. 6. 2 baptista. MS.

3 Ps, Ixxxiv. 10.

* Is. iij. 12. Author. vers., ‘‘ they which lead thee,” etc.

ee EE I Cy tm

cfesaes

ae a 9, eatin,

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Tot Staats

=
=

ADAM OF USK 233

fear shall in short time arise in this land, never, from the A.D. 1401,
_days of my youth, do I remember to have heard. For law
and justice are banished from the realm; thefts, murders,
adulteries, fornications, extortions, oppressions of the poor,
hurts, wrongs, and much reproach, are rife; and one tyrant
will doth serve for law. And therefore sure am I that if
the gospel of Christ be true, which saith that ‘every
kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation,’ !
and if the words of the wise man be not foolishness, who
declareth that ‘because of unrighteous dealings, injuries,
reproaches, and divers deceits, the kingdom is translated
from one people to another ’ *—if, I say, all these things do
wax unbridled in the land, and there be no man of power
in the kingdom, clerk nor knight, who, as a faithful minister
of Christ, may stand up against or heal these and other
countless offences and scorn of our God, I say, with the
faithful prophet, that the Lord God, strong and long-suffer-
ing, ‘is angry with the wicked every day, and if ye turn
not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and
made it ready. He hath also prepared for him the instru-
ments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the perse-
cutors, * so that, after that the manifest miracles of God
and his exceeding loving-kindnesses have in fact and deed
been despised or unheeded, he shall bring down swift and
raging vengeance upon his unthankful servants and those
who openly despise him. But we hoped that your wonder-
ful entry into the realm of England, which I doubt not
was the work of the hand of God, would have redeemed
Israel, and would have turned to repentance those guilty
of all those sins and wicked contempts of God, ‘for the
punishment of evil-doers and for the praise of them that do
well.’ But now the prudent do weep, and the froward
laugh ; the widow, the fatherless, and the orphan wring
their hands ; and tears flow down the cheeks of those who, p. 67.

1 Luke xj. 17. 2 Cf. Ecclus. x. 8.
$ Ps, vij. 11-13. ‘ 1 Pet, ij. 14.

A.D. 1401,

234 THE CHRONICLE OF

but a little while ago, with applauding hands and praising
God with one voice, went forth with the sons of Israel, on
the day of Palms, to welcome Christ, and who cried aloud
of you, their anointed king, as of another Christ: ‘Blessed
is he that cometh in the name of the Lord, our king of
England!’! hoping for a happy reign over the land. But
now ‘our harp is turned to mourning,” and our joy is
changed into sorrow, while all evils are multiplied, and the
hope of healing hath with tearful sadness gone out from
the hearts of men. Therefore doth God, who is a righteous
judge, as a just punishment and vengeance on the neglect
and carelessness of the rulers of the land, permit the com-
mons, like wild beasts, without rule and without reason, to sit
in judgement, and to usurp, contrary to nature, the govern-
ment which belongeth to those above them, and to rage
like the brutes, without the balance of reason, against those
who are above them, those who are equal with them, and
those who are below them. And in truth, if I mistake not,
well may your royal authority wax wroth at the rebellion
of the people, and so sorely may your vigour and warlike
fierceness be roused, that even in one province of your
kingdom, perhaps, which God forbid!, some twenty thou-
sand of your liegemen may fall by the edge of the sword,
till the fury of the executors be glutted—you, who, when
you came into the realm of England, did pledge yourself
to God and the people to shield from their enemies all and
every the dwellers in the realm, poor and rich, great
and small. But not thus will the murmuring of the people
cease, nor will the displeasure of our angered God; but
more and more will it be roused to fury, and more and
more, when the time cometh, will it rage, even to venge-
ance, until the law and the lawful justice of your realm
shall. be kept, and wrongs and unjust deeds and oppres-
sions of the people shall be done away and blotted out,

; Matt xxj. 9. 2 Job xxx. 31.

ADAM OF USK 235

and, by the upright ruling of justice, every man shall have
his own ; so that peace may first be re-established between
God and man, and thence may afterwards in deed and
in truth be had between man and his neighbour. ‘ For who
hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered ?’!
Because your sins and ‘your iniquities have separated
between you and your God, and have hid his face from
you, * therefore, by the just judgement of God,‘ as many as
have sinned without law shall also perish without law,’ *
and they who despise the law, being convinced of the law,
shall be justified according to the law. And, according to
the blessed James, ‘not the hearers of the law are just
before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified ’‘ ;
and, on the other hand, the despisers of the law shall be
confounded, as within two years we beheld ensampled in
king Richard, as in a wonder-mirror: a thing ever to be
holden in unfailing and undying remembrance by the
whole world and for all ages to come. Therefore may my
God, the sun of justice, take away the veil from your eyes,
that you may clearly see with the eyes of your mind what,
at your happy coming into the kingdom of England, you
did vow in public and in private to a faithful God who
forgetteth not, and, further, what justice and what obedience
you have repaid to a thankworthy and gracious God, and
to the kingdom of England, for all his benefits. And if you
find aught wanting, speedily, for fear of vengeance, hasten
to repay; and if you find aught of righteousness, give
thanks to the Lord, the giver of all good things, who
rendereth justly to every man according to his deserts.
And may the Blessed Trinity, in whose hand are the hearts
of kings and the governance of kingdoms, give to you a
teachable and a yielding heart, easily led to all good, to
fulfill with faithfulness the bounden duty of kingly rank,
and to understand in your heart and throughly, and to

1 Job ix. 4. 2 Isaiah lix. 2. § Rom. 1j. 12.
* Jas. i. 22; Rom. ij. 13.

A.D. 1401.
p. 68.

A.D. 1401.

p. 69.

236 THE CHRONICLE OF

heal the sufferings of your people; and may the Lord open
your heart in his law and in his commandments, and
stablish peace in the kingdom of England for ever and
ever! Written, if it please your lordship, with a trembling
heart, and with yearning love, at London, on Wednesday,
the morrow of the Invention of Holy Cross (4th May), by
the hand of your bedesman. Most serene prince, these
things, as a true worshipper of God, and as a friend of
your government, if good, and as a faithful lover and
bedesman of the state and of your realm, giving freedom
to my heart’s thoughts, have I already spoken by the
words of my mouth in your presence; and now, if it please
you, I write them unto you, burning with the same desire
and love, aye yearning love, ‘before it come to pass, that,
when it is come to pass, you might believe, and that, when
the time shall come, you may remember that I spake
to you, saying: When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he
will guide you into all truth; and he will shew you things
to come.’? Behold !, ‘O greatly beloved, ? I yearn with
love.”

On the twenty-eighth day of the month of July, in the
year of our Lord 1401, the aforesaid queen of England, still
a child, crossed over to Calais, and there, until the first
day of August next following, during the treating between
our people of England and the councillors of the king of
France, she stayed; and on that day she, together with
her jewels and dower, was honourably received by the
Frenchmen, to be sent to the king of France, her father,
all the English, of either sex, being sent back to their own
homes *.

In this summer the fleets of England and France attacked
each other much at sea.

1 John xiv. 29; xvj. 4, 13. 2 Dan. ix. 23.
» ® Isabella rested three days at Calais, and on the 31st July was
conducted to Leulinghen, where, after final arrangements, she was
handed over to the French commissioners.

ADAM OF USK 237

On the morrow of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin A.D. 1401.
(16th August), in the same year, our lord king Henry, with
the peers from all parts of the realm hereunto summoned,
in a great and solemn council holden at Westminster, deter-
mined that his adversaries of France and Scotland should
be by him assailed in war.

In this autumn, Owen Glendower, all North Wales and
Cardigan and Powis siding with him, sorely harried with p. 70.
fire and sword the English who dwelt in those parts, and
their towns, and specially the town of Pool. Wherefore the

*English, invading those parts with a strong power, and
utterly laying them waste and ravaging them with fire,
famine, and sword, left them a desert, not even sparing
children or churches, nor the monastery of Strata-florida,
wherein the king himself was being lodged, and the church
of which and its choir, even up to the high altar, they used
as a stable, and pillaged even the patens; and they carried
away into England more than a thousand children of both
sexes to be their servants. Yet did the same Owen do
no small hurt to the English, slaying many of them, and
carrying off the arms, horses, and tents of the king’s eldest
son, the prince of Wales, and of other lords, which he
bare away for his own behoof to the mountain fastnesses of
Snowdon. |

In these days, southern Wales, and in particular all the
diocese of Llandaff, was at peace from every kind of trouble
of invasion or defence.

Among those slain by the above inroad of the English,
Llewellyn ap Griffith Vaughan, of Cayo in the county of
Cardigan, a man of gentle birth and bountiful, who yearly
used sixteen tuns of wine in his household, because he was
well disposed to the said Owen, was, on the feast of Saint
Denis (9th October), at Llandovery, in the presence of the
king and his eldest son’, and by his command, drawn,
hanged, beheaded, and quartered.

? The words “cum filio suo primogenito”’ might more strictly mean

- 238 THE CHRONICLE OF

A.D. 1401.

Dita

At this time, about Michaelmas, a quarter of wheat on a
sudden rose in price from one noble to two, and in some
parts of England to three nobles.

Throughout all Wales the strongholds were repaired in
walls and ditches }.

Died the noble lord, lord John Cherleton, lord of Powis, at
his castle of Pool, on the day of Saint Luke (18th October) ;
to whom by right of inheritance succeeded the lord Edward,
his brother, a most graceful youth, lord, in right of his wife,
the countess of March, of Usk and Caerleon.

The lord Thomas, the king’s second son, crossed over
with a great host to subdue the rebellion of the Irish *.
So too the earl of Rutland, to withstand the invasions of
the French, went over into Gascony.

The Scots, refusing to treat for peace or truce with the

English, determined to begin war and defiance against them
on Saint Martin’s day (11th November) *.
* The commons of Cardigan, being pardoned their lives,
deserted Owen, and returned, though in sore wretchedness,
to their homes, being allowed to use the Welsh tongue,
although its destruction had been determined on by the
English, Almighty God, the King of kings, the unerring
Judge of all, having mercifully ordained the recall of this
decree at the prayer and cry of the oppressed.

On the morrow of All Hallows (2nd November), Owen,
seeking to lay siege to Caernarvon, there, in the midst of
a great host, unfurled his standard, a golden dragon on
the son of the sufferer. I think, however, that the prince of Wales
is referred to. Henry was in Wales in the early part of October.

1 One of the ordinances passed on the 22nd March, 1401, was that
the defences of the castles in North Wales should be kept in repair
for three years at the expense of the Welsh.

2 Thomas Plantagenet, created earl of Albemarle and duke of
Clarence in 1411, was slain at the battle of Baugé, 1421. He was
appointed lieutenant of Ireland in the summer of 1401, and landed at
Dublin on the 13th November, and remained in the country for two

years.
° The date of a proposed truce, to last for a year.

ADAM OF USK 239

a white field; but, being attacked by those within, he was
put to flight, losing three hundred of his men.

At this time, our lord the king made a levy on all the
realm for the marriage of his daughters !.

The lords Percy, father and son, subdued with vigour the
rebellion of the Scots, slaying and taking captive a great
number.

Owen and his men cruelly harried the lordship of Ruthin,
in North Wales, and the country-side with fire and sword,
on the last day but one of January, carrying off the spoil
of the land and specially the cattle to the mountains of
Snowdon ; yet did he spare much the lordship of Denbigh
and others of the earl of March, having at his beck the two
counties of Cardigan and Merioneth which were favourable
to him both for government and war.

A certain knight, called David ap Jevan Goz, of the
county of Cardigan, who for full twenty years had fought
against the Saracens with the king of Cyprus and other
Christians, being sent by the king of France to the king
of Scotland on Owen’s behalf, was taken captive by English
sailors and imprisoned in the Tower of London.

Messengers of Owen, bearing letters as follows, addressed
to the king of Scotland and lords of Ireland, were taken in
Ireland and beheaded: “ Most high and mighty and re-
doubted lord and cousin, I commend me to your most high
and royal majesty, humbly as it beseemeth me, with all
honour and reverence. Most redoubted lord and right
sovereign cousin, please it you and your most high majesty
to know that Brutus, your most noble ancestor and mine,
was the first crowned king who dwelt in this realm of

? Orders were first issued on the Ist December, 1401 (Federa, viij.
232), for the levy of an aid for the marriage of the princess Blanche
with Louis of Bavaria, which took place on the 6th July, 1402.
Negotiations were also being carried on during the year and after-
wards for the marriage of Henry’s second daughter, Philippa, with
Eric, king of Denmark, whom, however, she did not marry till
August, 1406.

A.D. 1401,

A.D. 1402.

A.D, 1401,
p. 72.

A.D. 1401,

Dec:

240 THE CHRONICLE OF

England, which of old times was called Great Britain.
The which Brutus begat three sons, to wit: Albanact,
Locrine, and Camber. From which same Albanact you
are descended in direct line. And the issue of the same
Camber reigned royally down to Cadwalladar, who was
the last crowned king of my people, and from whom I,
your simple cousin, am descended in direct line; and after
whose decease I and my ancestors and all my said people
have been, and are still, under the tyranny and bondage of
mine and your mortal foes the Saxons; whereof you, most
redoubted lord and right sovereign cousin, have good know-
ledge. And from this tyranny and bondage the prophecy
saith that I shall be delivered by the aid and succour of
your royal majesty. But, most redoubted lord and sove-
reign cousin, I make grievous plaint to your royal majesty
and right sovereign cousinship, that it faileth me much in
men at arms. Wherefore, most redoubted lord and right
sovereign cousin, I humbly beseech you, kneeling upon my
knees, that it may please your royal majesty to send unto
me a certain number of men at arms who may aid me and
may withstand, with God’s help, mine and your foes afore-
said; having regard, most redoubted lord and right sove-
reign cousin, to the chastisement of this mischief and of
all the many past mischiefs which I and my said ancestors
of Wales have suffered at the hands of mine and your mortal
foes aforesaid. Being well assured, most redoubted lord
and right sovereign cousin, that it shall be that, all the
days of my life, I shall be bounden to do service and
pleasure to your said royal majesty and to repay you.
And in that I cannot send unto you all my businesses in
writing, I despatch these present bearers fully informed in
all things, to whom may it please you to give faith and cre-
dence in what they shall say unto you by word of mouth.
From my court. Most redoubted lord and right sove-
reign cousin, may the Almighty Lord have you in his
keeping.”

ADAM OF USK 241

“ Greeting and fullness of love, most dread lord and right
trusty cousin. Be it known unto you that a great discord
or war hath arisen between us and our and your deadly
foes, the Saxons: which war we have manfully waged now
for nearly two years past, and which, too, we purport and
hope henceforth to wage and to bring to a good and effec-
tual end, by the grace of God our Saviour, and by your
help and countenance. But, seeing that it is commonly
reported by the prophecy that, before we can have the
upper hand in this behalf, you and yours, our well-beloved
cousins in Ireland, must stretch forth hereto a helping
hand; therefore, most dread lord and right trusty cousin,
with heart and soul we pray you that of your horsemen
and footmen, for the succour of us and our people who
now this long while are oppressed by our said foes and
yours, as well as to oppose the treacherous and deceitful
will of those same our foes, you do despatch unto us as
many as you shall conveniently and honourably be able,
saving in all things your honourable estate, as quickly as
may seem good unto you, bearing in mind our sore need.
Delay not to do this, by the love we bear you and as we
put our trust in you, although we be unknown to your
dread person, seeing that, most dread lord and cousin, so
long as we shall be able to wage manfully this war in our
borders, as doubtless is clear unto you, you and all the
other chieftains of your parts of Ireland will in the mean
time have welcome peace and calm repose. And because,
my lord cousin, the bearers of these presents shall make
things known unto you more fully by word of mouth, may
it please you to give credence unto them in all things which
they shall say unto you on our behalf, and, as it may be
your will, to confide, in full trust, unto them whatsoever,
dread lord and cousin, we your poor cousin may do.
Dread lord and cousin, may the Almighty preserve your re-
verence and lordship in long life and good fortune. Written
in North Wales, on the twenty-ninth day of November.”

R

A.D. 1401.

p. 74.

A.D 1402.

p. 75.

24.2 THE CHRONICLE OF

And now, O God, Thou, who of thine unbounded grace
didst grant me to fulfill my student’s time at Oxford and
the three years’ doctor’s course, and then seven years’
service as pleader in the court of Canterbury, be it honour
or be it profit, and in all other my businesses whatsoever
hast been my help, from the days of my youth up even to
old age and decay, forsake me not; but make of me an
ensample for goodness, that they who come nigh me may
behold and be astonished, “ because Thou, Lord, hast holpen
me and comforted me?.” And now grant that my journey
to Rome, as Thou hast ordered it, both in my going thither
and in my return hither according to my desire, whether
I be numbered among advocates or auditors, may merci-
fully receive Thy consolation, to the honour and praise
of Thy name, and to my welfare in either man, and with
threefold honour and temporal wealth.

To be short. On the nineteenth day of February, in the
year of our Lord 1401-2, I, the writer of this history, as,
by the will of God, I determined, took ship at Billingsgate
in London, and with a favouring wind crossed the sea, and,
within the space of a day landing at Bergen-op-Zoom, in
Brabant, the country which I sought, I set my face towards
Rome. Thence passing through Diest, Maastricht, Aachen,
Cologne, Bonn, Coblentz, Worms, Speyer, Strassburg, Brei-
sach, Basel, Bern?, Lucerne and its wonderful lake, Mont
St. Gotthard and the hermitage on its summit, where I was
drawn in an ox-waggon half dead with cold and with mine
eyes blindfold lest I should see the dangers of the pass, on
the eve of Palm Sunday (18th March) I arrived at Bellin-
zona in Lombardy. Thence through Como, Milan, Piacenza,
Borgo-San-Donnino, Pontremoli, Carrara *, Pietrasanta, Pisa,

+ Pe IZEXV)= 17:

2 The MS. places Bern after Lucerne.

5 The MS. reads “ Carenciam,” and the name precedes Pontremoli
in Adam’s list. But I have no doubt that Carrara is meant, that city
being the first important place at which the traveller would arrive on
descending from the hills towards the coast.

ADAM OF USK 243

Siena, and Viterbo, turning aside from Bologna, Florence,
and Perugia, on account of the raging wars and sieges of
the duke of Milan, of whom hereafter, and the perils thereof,
and halting for two days at every best inn for refreshment
of myself and men, and still more of my horses, on the fifth
day of April, by the favour of God and the fear of our
archer-guards, I came safely through all to Rome. And
within a fortnight after being presented, with his recom-
mendation, by the lord Balthasar, cardinal deacon of the
title of Saint Eustace, who was afterwards pope John the
twenty-third !, to our lord the pope Boniface the ninth, by
whom I was honourably received to the kiss of foot and
hand and cheek ; and then by him being given over to the
cardinal of Bologna, afterwards pope Innocent the seventh *,
to be straitly examined as to my knowledge, and being
approved, I was raised within a fortnight, by the counsel
of the pope and the Rota, to the dignity of papal chaplain
and auditor of the apostolic palace and judge of city and
world, being invested by the pope himself with the ensigns
of office, to wit, the cope and rochet and hat. And, within
a sennight after, the pope assigned thirty great causes,
which had been referred to his hearing, to be determined
by me.

In my journey hither, first at Cologne and thence right
up to Pisa mentioned above, as well by night as by day,
I beheld a dreadful comet which went before the sun,
a terror to the world—to the clergy which is the sun
thereof, and to the knighthood which is its moon—which
forecast the death of the duke of Milan, as it soon after
came to pass. His dreaded arms too, a serpent azure swal-
lowing a naked man gules, on a field argent, were then
ofttimes seen in the air.

1 Cardinal Balthasar Cossa became pope John XXIII. in 1410.

2 Cosimo dei Migliorati, appointed bishop of Bologna, but refused
by the people. He, however, always kept the title of cardinal of
Bologna. He became pope Innocent VII. in 1404.

R 2

A.D. 1402.

A.D. 1401-2.

A.D. 1402.
Dp; 76.

244 THE CHRONICLE OF

The duke of Bavaria, being chosen emperor, entered
Italy, eagerly striving to make for Rome for his coronation.
But suffering defeat at the hands of the said duke at Padua,
his design was brought to naught, and he went back con-
founded into his own country !.

This duke, having subdued Bologna, the delight of the
world and the glory of Italy, a man before whom all the
earth was quiet *, and who, drawing away the mighty river
Po through the midst of mountains and over many miles
of land, just as the great Cyrus turned aside the Euphrates
from Babylon, had gained Padua, died stricken by a sudden
plague, to the great sorrow of strangers, because, ruling his
lands with a rod of iron, he made passage through them
safe to wayfarers. And surely was it believed that, had
he but lived another year, he had reigned over Germany
and Italy as one kingdom. In every prince’s family in
Europe he had spies in his pay, to make known to him
any news, at much cost, besides bribing the princes them-

1 The emperor Rupert advanced into Italy against the duke of
Milan, but was beaten at Brescia, 24th October, 1401, and retired in
the following April.

2 1 Maccabees i. 3. Gian-Galeazzo Visconti, duke of Milan, who
succeeded his father Galeazzo in 1878. By his wonderful powers of
organization he conquered the greater part of northern Italy, and was
only checked when he came in contact with the republic of Florence.
He was almost always successful. Even when attacked on all sides by
a combination of his enemies, he shook them off and advanced to
fresh victories. His last conquest was Bologna. Soon after its capture,
the appearance of the plague frightened him into retirement at
Marignano, where however he sickened and died on the 8rd Septem-
ber, 1402. He is said to have pointed to the comet which was then
blazing in the heavens as a sign of his approaching end. Adam has
made some mistakes in details. Padua was taken by Gian-Galeazzo
as far back as 1888, but whether the waters of the Brenta (not the
Po, as Adam states) were diverted does not appear. However, the
duke had the design, which he partly carried out, of changing the
channels of the Brenta and Mincio and drying up the lagoons of
Venice, in order to attack the republic. In 1390, Padua was re-
covered by Francesco da Carrara, who effected an entry by the bed of
the river.

ADAM OF USK 245

selves to his side by great gifts. But see!, according to A.D. 1402.
the common saying, “ Ill-gotten gains scarce reach the third
generation,” his great-uncle, the archbishop of Milan’, a
man of large mind, vicar of the empire, leaving, at the
time of his death, his two nephews, that is, the lord
Galeazzo, father of this duke, and the lord Bernabo, his
uncle, captains in the emperor’s camp, bequeathed to them
pride and mutual hate by filching the rights of the empire,
and left his ill-gotten gains to be rooted out in the person
of this duke who was the third after him.

The said duke of Milan being dead, the duke of Bavaria
who was elected emperor sent a solemn embassy to the
pope for his confirmation; which he had, as appears below.

Bologna, Perugia, and other lands of the church, which
had been commended to the deceased duke, broke into
revolt; but they were brought back into subjection by the
diligence of the said cardinal of Saint Eustace.

Throughout all Lombardy and Tuscany treaties of peace
and concord were torn up; and, by the party-warfare of
Guelphs and Ghibellines, tumults raged with fire and sword.

On the twenty-second day of December, abuses of indul-
gences, unions, exceptions, pluralities, and other things
which brought scandal on the court, were, while I was
present, revoked”; or more truly I may say they were
renewed; for, alas!, a new sale of reinstatements of what
had been revoked grew up. Contrary to the revocation

1 This was Giovanni Visconti, the friend of Petrarch, who governed
Milan from 1349 to 1354. He recalled his three nephews, Matteo,
Galeazzo, and Bernabo, from exile, and on his death left them to
divide his possessions. He was not vicar of the empire, as Adam
states; but that office was held by his father Matteo. So far from
quarrelling, as the chronicle would make out, Galeazzo and Bernabo,
the two despots, after murdering their brother Matteo, seem to
have governed the Milanese with remarkable amiability towards one
another.

2 The bull is recited in Annales Ric. II. et Hen. IV. (Rolls
series), 351.

A.D. 1402.

p. 77.

A.D. 1403.

A.D. 1402.

246 THE CHRONICLE OF

of unions, the pope conferred on me, the writer of this
history, the archdeaconry of Buckingham, together with
the churches of Knoyle, Tisbury, and Deverill, in England ;
but, the Welsh war preventing this, he gave me the arch-
deaconries of Llandaff and Caermarthen, together with the
church of Llandefailog and the prebend of Llanbister.

In the year of our Lord 1402-3 Ladislas, king of Naples,
seeking for himself the kingdom of Hungary, by right of
descent, entered into it with a strong force. But having
subdued only Slavonia, he was bravely driven back by
Sigismund, brother of queen Ann of England and after-
wards emperor, who then held the kingdom; and he
returned with shame into Italy’.

My God!, how grievously now are church and empire
harassed and laid waste with internecine slaughters, the
one with two, the other with three rulers. And specially
that empire of the Greeks—founded by the race of the
great Constantine, who ruled in Britain, the son of the
holy Helena, and first by him transferred from the Romans
to the Greeks, and lastly by pope Stephen from the Greeks
to the Germans—is now, as all men know, laid waste by
Turks and Tartars.

On the day of Saint Alban (22nd June), near to Knighton
in Wales, was a hard battle fought between the English
under sir Edmund Mortimer? and the Welsh under Owen
Glendower, with woeful slaughter even to eight thousand
souls, the victory being with Owen. And, alas!, my lord
the said sir Edmund, whose father, the lord of Usk, gave
me an exhibition at the schools, was by fortune of war
carried away captive. And, being by his enemies in
England stripped of all his goods and hindered from
paying ransom, in order to escape more easily the pains
of captivity, he is known by common report to have

' Ladislas, king of Naples, was crowned king of Hungary, 5th

August, 1403; but was defeated and retired to Naples in October.
? Uncle of the earl of March.

ADAM OF USK 247

wedded the daughter of the same Owen; by whom he
had a son, Lionel, and three daughters, all of whom, except
one daughter, along with their mother are now dead. At
last, being by the English host beleaguered in the castle
of Harlech, he brought his days of sorrow to an end, his
wonderful deeds being to this day told at the feast in
song.

In this year also the lord Grey of Ruthin, being taken
captive by the same Owen, with the slaughter of two
thousand of his men, was shut up in prison; but he was
set free on payment of ransom of sixteen thousand pounds
in gold’.

e Concerning such an ill-starred blow given by Owen to

the English rule, when I think thereon, my heart trembles.
For, backed by a following of thirty thousand men issuing
from their lairs, throughout Wales and its marches he
overthrew the castles, among which were Usk, Caerleon,
and Newport, and fired the towns. In short, like a second
Assyrian, the rod of God’s anger*, he did deeds of
unheard-of cruelty with fire and sword.

These things I heard of in Rome. And there everything
was bought and sold, so that benefices were given not for
desert, but to the highest bidder. Whence, every man who
had wealth and was greedy for empty glory, kept his
money in the merchants’ bank ready to further his
advancement. And therefore, as, when under the Old
Testament the priesthood were corrupted with venality,
the three miracles ceased, to wit, the unquenchable fire
of the priesthood, the sweet smell of sacrifice which
offendeth not, and the smoke which ever riseth up, so
I fear will it come to pass under the New Testament. And
methinks the danger standeth daily knocking at the very
doors of the church.

In this year the king, with one hundred thousand men
and more divided into three bodies, invaded Wales in war

1 See above, p. 230. 4 Isa. x. 5.

A.D, 1402.

p. 78.

A.D. 1402.

A.D. 1403.

Pp. 79.

248 THE CHRONICLE OF

against Owen. But he and his poor wretches keeping close
in their caves and woods, the king laid waste the land and
returned victoriously, with a countless spoil of cattle, into
his own country. |

The lord Fitz-Walter, who while he was in Rome listened
to my advice (but in this he consulted me not), wishing to
pass by sea from Rome to Naples, was taken by Saracens
and carried prisoner to Tunis, the chief city of the savages ;
but, though ransomed by Genoese merchants, he delayed
returning to England by reason of the troubles there and
died in Venice},

For the abovesaid confirmation of the emperor, this text
is pronounced: “ Father, glorify thy son.”’? And the pope
answers in the form of a collation®: “Mine arm also shall
strengthen him.”* And this is the bull of confirmation:
“ Boniface, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to our
well-beloved son, Rupert, duke of Bavaria, king elect of
the Romans, greeting and apostolic blessing. The most
high Father of boundless majesty, who disposeth all things
by His merciful providence, hath ordered the world in
kingdoms, which He hath willed to be directed by good
counsel and to be governed with healthful governance, lest.
the estate of the human creature, which doth manifest the
image and likeness of his Creator, might be overwhelmed
in the gulf of the stormy waves of this world, or hindered
from the sweetness of its peace,—yea, verily, that all might
live a peaceful life bound by the rule of law and honour,
and that each one might abstain from offence against his
neighbour, and might acknowledge with natural love the
great Maker, might worship Him when known, and might
submit to His dread empire. At length the Father, looking
down from on high, and seeing that the people which He

1 Walter, ninth baron Fitz-Walter, died in 1407.

? John xvij. 1.

8 After “ collacionis” the manuscript reads “in utroque,” of which
I can make nothing. * Ps, Ixxxix. 21.

ADAM OF USK 249

had made had incurred the sentence of damnation, merci-
fully sent into the world the King of Peace, His only
begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, for the salvation of
His people. Who, putting on the flesh of our mortality,
rescued the people from the pangs of everlasting death and
redeemed them with His precious blood. We therefore,
who, undeserving though we be, bear His office in this
earthly kingdom, like unto a shepherd keep watch both of
body and mind, in order that we may see what may be
profitable to the flock committed to us, and what toil must
be spent, so that, with the support of Him, whose are the
pillars of the earth1, and by whom actions are weighed’,
and who governeth the deeds of mortal men, we may
profitably make manifest our part in that office, to attain
those things which we see of necessity to be of advantage
to the faithful. In truth, of late, the pope Urban the sixth
of blessed memory, who was next before us, perceiving by
prudent thought that the world is placed by the bonds of
sin in evil plight, and that, by the ordering of the Lord,
to whom all things are obedient, the mother church of
Rome doth hold the chief lordship over kings and kingdoms,
as mother and mistress of all, in order that by her ministry
the foundation of the catholic faith may be profitably
governed, did by divers messages and letters, at various
times, with fatherly affection urge our well-beloved son
in Christ, Wenceslaus, then king of Bohemia and of the
Romans, for the defence of the church militant and for
the honour and estate of the holy empire, as his duty re-
quired of him, to come to the parts of Italy in order to receive
the crown of the empire. And seeing him to be lukewarm
herein from too much sloth, while he still warned him now
by letters, now by messengers, he most urgently required
the electors of the empire, as the principal members thereof,
with fitting means and remedies to exhort the same
Wenceslaus to come down into Italy, and with earnestness
1 1 Sam. ij. 8. 2 1 Sam. ij. 3.

A.D, 1403.

p. 80.

A.D. 1408.

p. 81.

250 THE CHRONICLE OF

and with due warnings to enforce him thereto. But at
length the same Urban, our predecessor, by the Lord’s will,
was withdrawn from the light of this life, and we, being
by the mercy of God raised up to the summit of the most
high apostleship, burning with mighty zeal of heart, sought
to withstand the offences which we saw ever growing up
to the harm of the church of Rome, our spouse, and to the
harm, too, of the empire ; and therefore, as well by messages
as by letters, with fatherly kindness we interposed our
part, in divers ways which we thought fitting, in order
that we might induce the said Wenceslaus to such journey,
never giving up any possible chance which appeared
serviceable. And, perceiving that the exhortations of our
said predecessor and our own profit nothing, in order that
the prudence of the apostolic court should leave nothing
untried in so grave a case and weighty a matter, we bring
to remembrance that ofttimes we have written to our
reverend brethren and beloved sons, the electors of the
sacred empire, that they—having regard to the dangers
which from the exceeding sloth of the aforesaid Wenceslaus
were ever assailing the church and the empire and the
Christian religion, and above all seeing that France, which
we ever perceive to strain with all her strength for the
usurpation, or at least for the division, of the church and
empire, hath seized on the imperial city of Genoa, which
lieth in the very jaws of Italy—should in all fitting ways
and with timely remedies and warnings, rouse up the same
Wenceslaus to come into Italy, after the manner of the
lords his predecessors, in order to receive from our hands
the crown of the empire, and to prevent the French from
making good their footing, in Italy, and also to defend the
church and empire as by his office he is bound todo. At
length, the electors themselves perceiving that his delay
did cause endless losses, and that the abovesaid exhorta-
tions were in vain and of none effect, though made with
persistence for this matter which is so sacred and necessary

ADAM OF USK © 251

_ for Christendom, and that the same Wenceslaus was utterly A.D. 1408.
useless for the government of the said empire, and lest
the commonwealth of the same empire should by his
idleness fall to pieces, they took care to make known to
us by their envoy that, diligently enquiring into the slothful-
ness of the aforesaid Wenceslaus{ whereby a crop of dangers
has sprung up to the world, they had made ready, after
setting him aside, to proceed to the election of another
who might cope with those evils; and, although the
deposition of the same Wenceslaus is acknowledged
altogether to pertain to us, yet, armed with our authority,
they with one accord did proceed to the deposition of the
same Wenceslaus, and with one accord did choose thee,
our well-beloved son, duke of Bavaria, count-palatine and
co-elector of the Rhine, to be king of the Romans and next
emperor. And thou, after duly considering this matter,
and urged by them and others, hast given thy free consent
to such election. And afterwards, by a solemn embassy
on thy behalf, it was humbly prayed of us that we, of our
wonted kindness, would deign to approve by apostolic
authority the setting aside of the same Wenceslaus and
thy election and whatsoever followed thereon, and to
decree and pronounce thy person to be fit and proper to
undertake the aforesaid dignity of imperial exaltation.
Therefore, being credibly informed of all the aforesaid
matters, and of thy person, as far as in thine absence it p. 82.
might be, and of thy virtuous conduct and qualities and
of the allegiance whereof thou art approved towards us
and the Roman church, and having weighed carefully all
these things with our brethren, the cardinals of the holy
Roman church, listening to thy prayer, and with their
consent, to the praise and glory of God, and the glory of
the Virgin Mary and of the blessed Apostles Peter and
Paul, and the honour of the said Roman church, and the
good and profit of the holy empire, and the good estate
of the world, seeing that difficulties and dangers are likely

A.D. 1408.

p. 83.

252 THE CHRONICLE OF

to arise from the carelessness of the said Wenceslaus, and
holding as valid and according to our will his deposition
and thy election and whatsoever thereupon followed, we
receive thee as the chosen son of us and of the church,
and, granting to thee grace and favour and considering
thy person to be fitting, we pronounce and choose thee
to be king of the Romans, declaring thee to be fit therefor,
and decreeing the anointment and consecration and the
crown of the empire to be bestowed on thee by our own
hands; making good every defect, which in any way in
such election might be found, of our sure knowledge and
fullness of apostolic power. And we enjoin all faithful and
liege men of the empire, of what estate soever they be, even
though they be pre-eminent in kingly or priestly honours,
that they most fully obey and look towards thee as king
of the Romans and emperor elect. Let no man there-
fore, etc. Given at Rome, at St. Peter’s, on the first day
of October, in the fourteenth year of our pontificate.”

In the next year, on behalf of the crown of England
claimed for the earl of March, as is said, a deadly cet
arose between the king and the house of Perey of Northum-\
berland, as kin to the same earl, to the great agitation of )
the realm as it took part with one side or the other; and
a field being pitched for the morrow of Saint |
Magdalene (28rd July), the king, by advice of the earl o
Dunbar of Scotland, because the father of the lord Henry
Percy and Owen Glendower were then about to come
against the king with a great host, anticipating the ap-
pointed day, brought on a most fearful battle against the
said lord Henry and the lord Thomas Percy, then earl of
Worcester. And, after that there had fallen on either
side in most bloody slaughter to the number of sixteen
thousand men, in the field of Berwick! (where the king
afterwards founded a hospice for the souls of those who

? Berwick was the village where Hotspur passed the night before
the battle of Shrewsbury.

ADAM OF USK 253

there fell) two miles from Shrewsbury, on the eve of the
said feast, victory declared for the king who had thus
made the onslaught. In this battle the said lord Percy,
the flower and glory of the chivalry of Christendom, fell,
alas!, and with him his uncle. Whereby is the prophecy
fulfilled: “The cast-off beast shall carry away the two
horns of the moon.” There fell also two noble knights
in the king’s armour, each made conspicuous as though
a second king, having been placed for the king’s safety
in the rear line of battle. Whereat the earl of Douglas
of Scotland, then being in the field with the said lord
Henry, as his captive, when he heard victory shouted for
king Henry, cried in wonder: “ Have I not slain two king
Henries (meaning the said knights) with mine own hand ?
Tis an evil hour for us that a third yet lives to be our
victor.” 2

The circuits of full indulgence [at Rome], to lighten the
heavy toil of visiting others, consist in seven churches,
to wit: St. John Lateran, St. Mary the greater, St. Cross of
Jerusalem, St. Peter’s, St. Paul’s, St. Lawrence without the
walls, and SS. Fabian and Sebastian. Also, since it would
be too much labour to visit all places of indulgence in the
church of St. Peter, it sufficeth to visit within the circuit

1 The application of the “two horns of the moon” to the two
Percys who fell is no doubt suggested by the Percy badge, a crescent.
See a memorandum in Nicolas, Acts of the Privy Council, i. 209, in
which the Percy retainers are described at this very time as wearing
the badge: “et pluseurs chivachent devers lui, leur cressans as
braas.”

2 «This battell lasted three long houres, with indifferent fortune
on both parts, till at length, the king crieng Saint George! victorie !
brake the arraie of his enemies, and adventured so farre, that (as some
write) the earle Dowglas strake him downe, and at that instant
slue sir Walter Blunt, and three other, apparelled in the king’s sute
and clothing, saieng: I marvell to see so many kings thus suddenlie
arise one in the necke of an other.”—Holinshed, iij. 26. “ Another
king! they grow like Hydra’s heads.” —Shakespeare’s Hen. IV.,
pt. I, act V. se. iv.

A.D. 1403,

A.D. 1403.

p. 84.

254 THE CHRONICLE OF

seven altars, to wit: the high altar of Saint Peter, wherein
he lieth, as too Saint Paul doth in the high altar of his
church, although their heads are in St. John Lateran,
adorned with gold; also the altars of Saint Cross, Saint
Veronica, Saint Gregory, Saint Fabian and Saint Sebastian,
Saint Leo pope, and Saint Andrew.

Also, in the city there are four patriarchal churches, to
wit: St. John Lateran, which is the mother of city and
world, wherein also is the papal throne, and out of regard
to which the pope is called Roman pontiff, once the palace
of the great Constantine, and by him given for this pur-
pose to Saint Silvester, but first built by Nero; the second,
St. Mary the greater; the third and fourth, St. Peter’s and
St. Paul’s; and in these churches all the cardinals, as
canons thereof, receive their titles, and at their high altars
no man doth celebrate save only the pope. Yet there are in
the city many other churches, as in the line :—

“In Rome are chapels a thousand six hundred and five.”

From one of my fellow auditors of the Rota, a native of
Naples, I heard that in these days a certain ship of that
city was taken by the Saracens, wherein was a lady of noble
birth, who, choosing death rather than suffer violation, on
a sudden cast herself into the sea and was drowned.

After the above-told battle between the king and the said
lord Henry Percy, Owen with his manikins, issuing from his
caves and woods and seizing his chance, marched through
Wales with a great power as far as the sea of the Severn,
and brought into subjection with fire and sword all who .
made resistance and also those beyond the same sea wher-
ever the Welsh, as such, had been pillaged by the country
people, sparing not even churches ; whereby at last he came |
to ruin. And then with a vast spoil he retired for safety)
to the northern parts of Wales, whence are spread all the
ills of Wales, and to the mountains of Snowdon, amid
smothered curses on his open adulteries.

ADAM OF USK 255

The men of Bristol with an armed fleet, under their
captains, James Clyfford and William Rye, esquires, invaded
the parts of Glamorgan, and pillaged the church of Llandaff;
but, being beaten by the country people, through a miracle
of Saint Theliau, they were driven back in disorder with
no small loss.

- The prior of Launde and sir Roger Clarendon, knight,
natural brother of king Richard, and eleven of the order

of grey friars, doctors in theology, who were confederates.

of the said"Owén'® being betrayed to the king by their own
fellows, at Tyburn in London were drawn. and hanged with
cruelty. And many lords and ladies, even countesses, were
for the same cause committed to prison.

The king, hoping to receive help through her, took to
wife the widow of the duke of Brittany and sister of the
king of Navarre*. But straight his hopes were rendered
vain, for the Bretons, denouncing the marriage, along with
the French and under command of the count marshal of
Aquitaine and the lord of Huguevilles of Normandy, entered
Wales in great force to the succour and support of Owen ;
and wasting all the march with fire and sword they did no
small hurt to the English °.

1 The charge against them was that of spreading the rumour that
Richard was still living, and so attempting an insurrection against
Henry; and also of sending money to Owen.

* Henry’s marriage with Joan, daughter of Charles of Navarre and
widow of John Montfort, duke of Brittany, was celebrated on the 7th
February, 1403.

5 The Bretons made a descent on the southern coast and burned
Plymouth, in 1403. The following year they reappeared near Port-
land and did some damage, but were beaten off with the loss of their
leader (Walsingham, ij. 259, 261). Owen Glendower entered into an
offensive and defensive alliance with the French on the 14th June,
1404. In consequence of this, an expedition of one hundred and
forty sail, with 12,000 men, sailed from France to Wales, under
command of Jean, sire de Rieux et Rochefort, marshal of France and
Brittany (the count marshal of Aquitaine, of the text above), and
Jean, sire de Hangest, lord of Avenescourt and Huguevilles, grand-
master of the crossbows.

A.D. 1408.

A.D. 1402.

A.D. 1403.
p. 85.

A.D. 1402,
1406.

A.D. 1402.

A.D. 1404,

256 THE CHRONICLE OF

The king bestowed his two daughters in marriage, the |
one to the king of Denmark, and the other to the son of the
duke of Bavaria, emperor elect as above, with no small
taxation of the kingdom 1. j

The house of Percy, short time before its ill fate as told
above, in battle at Homildon Hill in the march of Scotland,
slew many thousands of the Scots; and many nobles,
amongst whom was the Douglas spoken of above, were
carried off captive by the fortune of war. And it is believed
that from this victory that house became too much puffed
up, and, according to the common saying: “An haughty
spirit goeth before a fall,” ? went headlong to its ruin. And
no wonder ; for it is not the saw which eutteth the log nor
the axe which cleaveth, but the hand of man. So the hand
of God alone giveth the victory.

In these days the church of Hereford being vacant °, the
pope made disposition thereof in favour of me the writer of
this history, but through the envy of the English who
opposed me and by letters belied me with poisonous words
to the king,—whereby for four years long, an exile, on sea
and land I suffered the pangs of grievous misfortunes *,—I
got not advancement but rather abasement, and suffered
the last degree of poverty, stripped of benefices and goods,
and, like Joseph, hearing among strangers a tongue which
I knew not, albeit I was paid with gold for my counsel.

Meanwhile in England many parliaments were holden,
wherein both more stringent statutes were passed against
papal provisions, and more than was wont the clergy and
people were taxed with heavier levies. And no marvel; for

1 Blanche, married to Louis of Bavaria, son of the emperor, in
1402; and Philippa, married to Eric of Denmark, in 1406.

2 Prov. xvj. 18.

8 By the death of John Trevenant on the 6th April, who was
succeeded by Robert Mascall on the 2nd July, 1404.

* Adam was in exile for six years in all, from 1402 to 1408. He is
here taking account of the last four years, dating from 1404, the year
in which he is writing.

ADAM OF USK 257

they were pressed to hold their own in war against France, A.D. 1404.
Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and Flanders, and owing to war p. 86.
they had lost sixty thousand pounds which Wales was
accustomed to pay.

Owen and his hill-men, even in their misery, at Mach- |
ynlleth, usurping the right of conquest and other marks of
royalty, albeit to his own confusion, held, or counterfeited |
or made pretence of holding parliaments.

The earl of Northumberland, father of the above famous ©
lord Henry, at the prayer and request of all the parliament, _
was shortly, though to no purpose, reconciled to the |, Peerthy on
king. And in this parliament, a certain villein, Serle by =
name, was for the murder of the duke of Gloucester, of
whom above, drawn, hanged, disembowelled, beheaded, and
quartered }.

On account of the slanders of mine enemies, I, the present
writer, sent unto the king, under mine own hand, although
to no purpose, the following letter, which was delivered to
him by the bishop of Salisbury ?: “ With most humble and
devout recommendations and with continual prayers to
God for the health of your royal majesty. Most excellent
and most benign prince, whereas, after leave had of your
royal highness to visit the court of Rome, I with others
did so visit it, it did please our father and lord in Christ,
Boniface, by the divine will pope, that now is, to attach
me, although unworthy, to the college of the lords auditors
of his sacred palace. And I, trusting in Him who can make
the rough places smooth and who alone can water with the
spring of His grace the heart which is parched, and hoping
that He would make fruitful my short-coming with the
dew of His loving-kindness, did accept that unpaid office,

1 William Serle, a devoted servant of Richard II., was taken
prisoner on the northern border and brought to Pontefract. He
was executed with more than ordinary cruelty, suffering “ more and
severer penalties than other our traitors have endured before these
times.”—Wylie, Henry the Fourth, i. 450.

? Richard Metford, translated from Chichester, 1395; died, 1407.

S

A.D. 1404,

258 THE CHRONICLE OF

to the praise of God and that I might do more useful
service to your royal pre-eminence and to your servants;
and I now hold the same; and still for some time, if
fortune favour me in the cost of my sojourn here, I, as best
I can, by the help of divine favour, do purpose to practise
it, offering myself with heart and soul to your royal wishes
and commands, whereunto, according to the small measure
of my littleness, I am ready ever to do service; praying
in most humble and devoted wise of your royal majesty,
under the shadow of which I live and move (seeing that
nothing is so acceptable to me as the safe estate, and the
happy progress, and the glorious triumph thereof), that,
graciously bearing in the memory of your royal loving-
kindness how I grieved for your absence which was caused
by the shafts of envy, as my lord your brother! knoweth (to
whom I foretold your prosperous return, just as it happened,
at which happy fortune I rejoiced—as I hope hath not been
hid from your royal goodness—and wherein I as a sharer
gave most loyally at mine own expense my service, poor
as it was, till you had right worthily been exalted to the
pinnacle of royal majesty), of your charity your majesty
may please to restore me to the old age of my insignificance
with the relief of some better promotion. This offering of
me your humble and faithful bedesman and willing servant
may your majesty be pleased to accept with your inborn
clemency and graciousness, inclining not the ears of your
loving-kindness to those who speak evil of me, but favour-
ably deigning to foster me and my fortunes and my friends
under the shadow and protection of your exalted arm; and
may He, by whom all kings and princes are governed, grant
you to triumph over your foes, at your desire, and to reign
long and happily here on earth, and hereafter to pass to the
heavenly kingdom. Written at Rome, in the fifth year of
your reign, on the twelfth day of the month of September.”

1 No doubt Henry Beaufort, then bishop of Lincoln, the king’s
half-brother.

ADAM OF USK 259

On the feast of Saint Michael (29th September) there came, A.D. 1404.
seeking for the union of the church, a solemn embassy, on
the part of the kings of France, Castille, and Aragon, and
of other princes who were obedient unto him who sat at
Avignon!, to pope Boniface; and he gave them public —
audience. And the bishop of St. Pons? in France spake to
him in these words, not acknowledging him as pope: “ sot]
dread lord, if you of yourself do not feel pity for the sou
of others, yet my lord doth offer himself as ready to lay
down his life to find a way of union.” Whereat lord Boni-
face burst forth: “Thy lord is false, schismatic, and very
antichrist.” “Saving your reverence, father, not so. My
lord is holy, just, true, catholic; and he sits upon the true
seat of Saint Peter”; and further the same bishop cried out
with heat: “Nor is he simoniac.” Whereupon Boniface, p. 88.
astonished at these words, withdrew into his chamber, and
within two days (lst October) was plucked out from this
life. Concerning this matter, on the same night, I had two
dreams. The first was, that I beheld Saint Peter, robed in
his bishop’s vestments, sitting without his gate, and he cast
forth to earth another who appeared as a pope, of sad
countenance and foul, and who was sitting on his left hand.
In the second, there appeared unto me a fox chased by
dogs, which, taking the water, seized in his mouth, to keep
himself afloat, a branch of willow which grew above, and
lay covered to the nostrils ; and, when he was again hunted
out by the dogs, in terror he left the water, and, as a last
refuge, ran into a hole, where forthwith he disappeared.
Whence I understood that the fox, though ever greedy, yet
ever remaineth thin ; and so Boniface, though gorged wih |
simony, yet to his dying day was never filled.

A certain German also showed me a letter sent from
other parts by the hands of a holy man, wherein he declared

1 Benedict XIII.

? Pierre de Rabat, bishop of St. Pons de Tomiéres, in the province
of Narbonne, 1397-1409.

8 2

A.D. 1404.

p. 89.

260 THE CHRONICLE OF

that he had seen Saint Michael fell Boniface to the earth
with a heavy buffet ; and so, on his festival, it came to pass
as above.

By the death of our lord the pope the safe-conduct
of the ambassadors became void; and so they were by
the captain of the castle of Sant’ Angelo therein thrust
prisoners.

For the election of a new pontiff of Rome the cardinals
entered the conclave, which was entrusted to the safe keep-
ing of the king of Naples and six thousand of his soldiers.

The pestilent Roman people rose divided into the two
parties of Guelphs and Ghibellines, and for the space of
three weeks with slaughter and robbery and murder did
they harry each other, either party urging the creation of
a pope on its own side; yet by reason of the said guard
could they not come near to the palace of Saint Peter nor
to the conclave. And so their partisanship brought about
the election, as pope, of one who lay not in the bosom of
either party, namely Innocent the seventh, a native of
Sulmona?. And, when his election was made known, th
Romans attacked his hospice, and, after their greedy
fashion, nay rather from festering corruptness, they sacked
it, leaving therein not so much as the bars of the
windows 2. |

The conclave is a close-built place, without anything
to divide it, and it is set apart to the cardinals for the
election of the future pope; and it must be shut and
walled in on all sides, so that, excepting a small wicket for
entrance which is closed up after they have gone in, it
shall remain strongly guarded. And therein is a small

1 Cosimo dei Migliorati, elected on. the 17th October. Adam is
mistaken in saying that the king of Naples was in Rome. He had
been called in by the people, and was marching on the city when
the conclave met. The cardinals hastened to make the election
before his arrival.

2 This seems to have been the custom of the times. At a later
period a guard was set over the house of the pope elect.

ADAM OF USK 261

window for food to be passed in to the cardinals, at their A.D. 1404.
own cost, which is fitted so as to open or shut as required.

And the cardinals have each a small cell on different floors,

for sleep and rest; and three rooms alone in common, the

privy, the chapel, and the place of election. After the

first three days, while they are there, they have but one

dish of meat or fish daily, and after five days thence bread

and wine only, until they agree.

Heavens! The glory of Cesar and Augustus, of Solomon
and Alexander, of Ahasuerus and Darius, and of the great
Constantine—where is it now? And whither shall this
glory pass? Let it be left to the outcome of the future!

“ Proud he wears the triple crown

Whose vassals throng his foot to kiss ;
For king or kaiser’s angry frown

Not a wight cares aught, I wis.
Christ his pardon freely gave,

Gave his grace without a price;
He, who here will favour have,

To mammon’s god must sacrifice.”

Christ was meek, and his vicar a lowly fisherman. But
Plato bids me hold my peace.

Such advancement of my lord Innocent saw I thus in
a vision, how he went up from the sacristy of St. Peter’s
to the altar to celebrate mass, robed in the papal vestments ©
of scarlet silk woven with gold.

The dead pope, after the proclamation of the election, was
carried to the church of St. Peter for the funeral rites, which
lasted for nine days.

A disgraceful treaty (for how soon was it broken !) was
made with the Romans by the new pope, to wit, that, the
lordship of the city with the borough of St. Peter and the
castle of Sant’ Angelo and yearly tribute of six thousand
florins being reserved to him, as well as the appointment
of the senator, who, however, must be born a full hundred p. 90.

A.D. 1404,

262 THE CHRONICLE OF

miles from Rome, the rest should remain at the will and
behoof of the people}.

The aforesaid king of Naples, having received from the
pope Campania and the sea-coast for a yearly tribute for
five years, afterwards a cause of weariness to the church,
departed with his army from Rome.

On the feast of Saint Martin (11th November) the new
pope went down from the palace to the church of St. Peter
for the ceremony of his coronation, and at the altar of
St. Gregory, the auditors bringing the vestments, he was
robed for the mass. And, at the moment of his coming
forth from the chapel of St. Gregory, the clerk of his
chapel, bearing a long rod on the end of which was fixed
some tow, cried aloud as he set it aflame: “ Holy father, thus
passeth away the glory of the world”; and again, in the
middle of the procession, with a louder voice, thus twice:
“Holy father! Most holy father!”; and a third time, on
arriving at the altar of St. Peter, thrice: “Holy father !
Holy father! Holy father!” at his loudest ; and forthwith
each time is the tow quenched. Just as in the coronation
of the emperor, in the very noontide of his glory, stones
of every kind and colour, worked with all the cunning of
the craft, are wont to be presented to him by the stone-
cutters, with these words: “ Most excellent prince, of what
kind of stones wilt thou that thy tomb be made?” Also,
the new pope, the mass being ended by him, ascends a lofty
stage, made for this purpose, and there he is solemnly
crowned with the triple golden crown by the cardinal of
Ostia as dean of the college. The first crown betokens power
in temporal things ; the second, fatherhood in things spirit-
ual; the third, grandeur in things of heaven. And after-

1 The local rivalry between the pope and the people of Rome was
temporarily settled to the advantage of the former in 1398, when, on
condition of his coming to reside in Rome, Boniface was allowed
a certain share in the municipal government of the city. But this
arrangement soon broke down, and there ensued constant quarrels
between pope and people, as told by Adam.

ADAM OF USK 263

wards, still robed in the same white vestments, he, as well
as all the prelates likewise in albs, rides thence through
Rome to the church of St. John Lateran, the cathedral seat
proper of the pope. Then, after turning aside, out of
abhorrence of pope Joan, whose image with her son stands
in stone in the direct road near St. Clement’s, the pope,
dismounting from his horse, enters the Lateran for his
enthronement. And there he is seated in a chair of por-
phyry, which is pierced beneath for this purpose, that one
of the younger cardinals may make proof of his sex ; and
then, while a “Te deum” is chanted, he is borne to the
high altar !.

? A detailed account of the papal coronation will be found in the
Tableau de la Cour de Rome, par le Sieur J. A[imon] (1726), and in
Cérémonies et Coutumes Religieuses (Amsterd. 1723). Interesting par-
ticulars of the coronation of Innocent VIII., in 1484, are given by
Burchard (Diarium, Florent. 1854), which may be compared with
the narrative in our text. Burchard himself, as chamberlain, per-
formed the ceremony of lighting and extinguishing the tow. At
a later time this simple emblem of the “ gloria mundi” was changed
for a more elaborate one, the fragments of tow giving place to
miniature models of castles and palaces made of that material. Part
of the ceremonies were, however, omitted in Innocent’s coronation
for the following reason. It appears that if the pope rode in state
up to the Lateran, the people claimed both horse and baldacchino.
To resist this claim, and to avoid the rudeness of the crowd, Innocent
dismounted near St. Clement’s church and was thence carried in
a chair. But this only made matters worse; for the pressure of the
crowd was so great that his bearers, making a rush to carry him
through, were swept right into the church, so that “ pontificis
receptio in ostio sive porticu Lateranensi et ejus locatio in sede
stercoraria ac jactio pecuniarum fieri non potuerunt,” and the pro-
cession reached the high altar in ludicrous confusion.

The ceremony of the “sedes stercoraria,” with the meaning given
to it in this and other chronicles, is discussed by the editor of
Burchard’s Diary (48 sqq.), who quotes from various authorities
to show that the name arose from the verse chanted by the cardinals,
as they raised the pope from the chair in which he was seated within
the portico of the church: “Suscitat de pulvere egenum et de stercore
erigit pauperem ” (Ps. cxij. 7) ; and that by an obvious confusion the
chair became in the popular mind a “ sedes probatoria.”

For an account of pope Joan (whom our chronicler, curiously

A.D. 1404,

p. 91.

264 THE CHRONICLE OF

A.D. 1404. In their street the Jews offered to him their law, that is
the Old Testament, seeking his confirmation ; and the pope
took it gently in his hands, for by it we have come to the
knowledge of the Son of God and to our faith, and thus
answered: “ Your law is good ; but ye understand it not, for
old things are passed away, and all things are become new'.”
And, as if for a reproach, since they being hardened in error
understand it not, he delivers it back to them over his left
shoulder, neither annulling nor confirming it *.

There rode with the pope not only those of his court
and the clergy, but also the thirteen quarters of the city
with their captains and standards at their heads. During
the progress, in order to ease the thronging of the people,
largess was thrice cast among the crowd, and a passage was
thus cleared while it was being gathered up.

Now I rejoice that I was present and served in that great
solemnity, as also I did in the coronation of king Henry the
fourth of England and in the confirmation of the empire
spoken of above.

O God!, how much is Rome to be pitied! For, once
thronged with princes and their palaces, now a place of
hovels, thieves, wolves, worms, full of desert places, how
pitifully is she laid waste by her own citizens who rend
each other in pieces! Thou, O Rome, didst draw thine
origin from Aineas after the Trojan war, as my nation too

enough, calls Agnes), see Burchard’s Diary, 82 sqq. Niem, who was
contemporary with Adam of Usk, states in his Historie sui temporis
that her image stood in the street between the church of St. Clement
and the Coliseum.

+2 .Oor. 9. 27. «.

2 This curious custom is traced back to the twelfth century, when,
on Innocent II. taking refuge in France and entering Paris, the
Jews presented him with a copy of their law (Cérémonies, etc., I.
pt. i. 81). Burchard (47) says that in his time the ceremony took
place at the Monte Giordano, but formerly near the castle of Sant’
Angelo, from whence, however, the Jews were driven by the insults
of the people. In later times (Cérémonies, etc., I. pt. ij.59) the scene
was removed to the Coliseum.

ADAM OF USK 265

from his great-grandson'; whence we stand on common
ground in affliction. And truly it was first her empire
which devoured the world with the sword, and next her
priesthood with mummery. Whence the lines :—

“The Roman bites at all; and those he cannot bite he
hates.
Of rich he hears the call; but ’gainst the poor he shuts
his gates.”

And it was thus that a certain German spake who was
pleading before me for a benefice, but whose cause was sold
by forestalling the date in the papal camera :—

“Weep, pitiful Rome, for thy fame past recall ;
‘No man shall sell!, but Rome chaffers for all.
Thus shalt thou pass away, thus shalt thou fall.”

The church of London being vacant, the college of audi-
tors with one accord went up and besought the pope to
translate thither the lord Guy de Mona, bishop of St.
David's, and to make provision of the church of St. David’s
to me, the writer of this history *. Which thing was very
pleasing to him, and he said: “ We thank you heartily that
you have thus recommended him to us; and we rejoice at
so good an occasion of making provision for him of a better
church in his own country, for the church is one of dignity.
And we knew his good estate, and also the same Guy de
Mona at the time when we were collector in England.” But,
the matter being noised abroad, my enemies with mighty
clamour and speech declared against it to the king and
cardinals who held benefices in England, threatening the
latter that, if they should allow this thing, they would lose
their benefices by the king’s displeasure ; and they swore

1 The mythical Brut.

? Robert de Braybrooke, bishop of London, died on the 27th August,
1404. He was succeeded by the ex-archbishop, Roger Walden, dean
of York. Guy de Mona remained bishop of St. David's till his death
in 1407.

A.D. 1104.

p. 92.

A.D. 1404,

266 THE CHRONICLE OF

that the king would send me to prison and the gallows.
Moreover they forbade the merchants to lend me money,
under pain of expelling their partners out of England.
And this was the chief hindrance of the matter; and so
it fell to the ground.

On Christmas day I was present at the papal mass and
the banquet, as also on other festivals, together with others
my fellow auditors and officers. And, in the first mass, at
the right horn of the altar was placed a sword adorned
with gold, bearing on its upright point a cap with two
labels like a bishop’s mitre, for this purpose: that the
emperor, if present, holding the naked sword, should
himself read, as deacon, as having been anointed, the
gospel : “ There went out a decree from Cesar,’ ! and should
have the same sword from the pope for himself. But,
owing to the absence of the emperor, a cardinal deacon
read the gospel, and the pope delivered the sword to the
count of Malepella?, as being the most noble then pre-
sent*. In the same mass, double gospel and epistle are
read, in Latin by two Latins, and in Greek by two Greeks,

' Luke jj. 1.

2 This name is not to be identified, Probably the scribe has
blundered. Count Ugo Balzani, La storia di Roma nella cronica
di Adamo da Usk, 1880, has found a certain count Manopello, of the
Orsini faction; but his identity with “Malepella” must remain
uncertain.

3 So also Burchard (81), under date of 1486, has the following:
—‘Feria secunda, 25 mensis Decembris, festo Nativitatis Domini
Dei Salvatoris Nostri Jesu Christi, Papa processionaliter venit sub
baldachino ad basilicam S. Petri, praelatis et Cardinalibus post crucem
praecedentibus. Dominus Sinulphus clericus Camerae ad sinistram
Crucis ensem cum pileo portavit super altare majus in cornu epistolae,
ubi per totam missam mansit. Qua finita, Sanctissimus Dominus
Noster, sedens in sede solii, comiti Tondillae ante se genuflexo
tradidit gladium cum capello, dicens sine libro: Accipe gladium, et
sis defensor fidei et Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae, in nomine Patris, etc.,
quem ille accipiens osculatus est manum, deinde pedem Papae, et
dedit eum uni ex suis militibus, qui eum continuo ante ipsum
portavit.” The Table de la Cour de Rome (348) gives the following

ADAM OF USK 267

for their satisfaction, because they say that they were driven
out of the church.

The pope created a noble Roman knight prior of the
Hospital of Saint John, his own marshal girding him with
the sword; but the pope, after drawing the sword, only
struck him with the hand on the forehead, saying: “ Bear
this blow for the commonwealth and faith of Christ.”
Then the new knight kisses the other knights standing
round about, and is robed by the pope’s hand in the tunic
of religion; and by the pope’s order the golden spurs are
fastened on his heels by another knight.

Two monks from India, black and bearded, do reverence
to the pope, and, in proof of their belief in Christ, they
show the crosses which they bear upon their breasts, and
their baptism on the right ear, not made with water but
with fire, saying: “ From the time when the sound of the
apostles of Jesus Christ went out into all the earth’, and
specially from the time of Saint Thomas, our apostle, although
others have turned aside from the faith, never have we so
turned aside, but we are true Christians.” And they had
a gracious hearing *.

account of the origin of this ceremony: “Les Papes fondent cet
usage sur ce qu’on trouve dans le second livre de Machabées, au
chapitre xv., ou il est dit que Judas Machabée étant prét & combattre
Nicanor, général de l’armée d’Antiochus, Roi de Syrie, eft une vision
en laquelle il lui sembloit voir le grand Prétre Onias, quoique mort,
qui prioit Dieu pour le peuple Juif, et le Prophéte Jeremie qui pré-
sentoit au méme Judas une epée dorée, en lui disant ces paroles:
Recois cette sainte epée que Dieu te donne et avec laquelle tu
detruiras les adversaires de mon peuple Israél.” The cap was usually
sent to some prince or captain distinguished by his zeal for the
church. Pius II. sent a sword and cap to Louis XI.

1 Rom. x. 18.

2 These two “nigerrimi barbati” seem to have been Ethiopians.
Marco Polo (ed. Yule, 2nd edit. 1875, ij. 421) in his account of Abash,
or Abyssinia, thus refers to the custom of branding: ‘‘ The Christians
in this country bear three marks on the face; one from the forehead
to the middle of the nose, and one on either cheek. These marks
are made with a hot iron, and form part of their baptism; for, after

A.D. 1404,

p. 93.

A.D. 1404.

268 THE CHRONICLE OF

I, the writer of this history, delivered to the pope the
following petition: “ Holy father, in the town or borough
of Usk, in the diocese of Llandaff, is a certain most
honourable monastery of a prioress and convent of nuns,
under the profession of the order of Saint Benedict, who
serve God with the greatest devoutness, which was of old
sufficiently endowed with possessions, rents, and other
profits ; and in this monastery none but virgins of noble
birth were and are wont to be received. But now, owing
to the burnings, spoilings, and other misfortunes which
have been caused by the wars which raged in those parts,
or otherwise, this same monastery hath come to such want
that, unless ready help be forthwith found by your holi-
ness, the sisterhood will be forced to beg for food and
clothing, straying through the country, or to stay in the
private houses of friends ; whereby it is feared that scandals
may belike arise. And, seeing that within the walls of the
same monastery there is built a certain chapel in honour
of Saint Radegund, virgin nun, once queen of France, where-

that they are baptized with water, these three marks are made,
partly as a token of gentility, and partly as the completion of their
baptism, There are also Jews in the country, and these bear two
marks, one on either cheek; and the Saracens have but one, to wit,
on the forehead, extending halfway down the nose.’ Colonel Yule,
in his learned note upon the passage, refers to the early mention
by Matthew Paris, under the year 1237, of the practice among the
Jacobite Christians of branding their children on the forehead
before baptism. It appears also to have been the custom in Abys-
sinia and other parts of Africa to cauterize the temples of children,
to inure them against colds. Ariosto, referring to the emperor of
Ethiopia, has:
“Gli é, s’io non piglio errore, in questo loco
Ove al battesmo loro usano il fuoco.”

Salt, the traveller, mentions that most of the people of Dixan had
a cross branded on the breast, right arm, or forehead; which he
explains as a mark of attachment to the ancient metropolitan church
of Axum. And in Marino Sanudo it is stated that “some of the
Jacobites and Syrians who had crosses branded on them said this
was done for the destruction of the pagans, and out of reverence
to the Holy Rood.”

ADAM OF USK 269

unto the men of that country bear great reverence, and
which they ofttimes, and specially at the feasts of Easter
and Whitsuntide, are wont to visit ; now therefore, prayeth
your holiness your faithful chaplain and auditor of causes
of the sacred palace apostolic, who first drew breath in the
same town or borough, and of whose blood are some of the
same sisterhood, that, having pity with fatherly compassion
on that monastery and prioress and nuns, you will deign
graciously to grant to all Christian people who, so often as,
on the second days of the said festivals, for all time to
come, they shall visit the same chapel, shall stretch forth
the hand of help thereto, some indulgence, as your holiness
shall think fit, with necessary and proper clauses, as in
form.” And the pope signed it thus: “So be it, as it is
asked,” for five years and as many periods of forty days,
as appeareth in the same chapel.

Being lodged near the palace of St. Peter, I watched
the habits of the wolves and dogs, often rising at night to
this end. For, while the watch-dogs barked in the gate-
ways of their masters’ houses, the wolves carried off the
smaller dogs from the midst of the larger ones, and although,
when thus seized, the dogs, hoping to be defended by their
larger companions, howled the more, yet the latter never
stirred from their posts, though their barking waxed louder.
And so I pondered on the same sort of league which we
know doth exist in our parts between the great men of the
country and the exiles of the woods.

The viper race of Lombardy, split up into Guelphs and |
Ghibellines, with plundering and fire and slaughter, and
even eating the flesh of the dead and dashing against rocks
their own offspring if they took the opposite side, destroyed
each other and certain of their cities at this time. -

The Romans, about Quinquagesima Sunday, meet together
for public games, with the captains of their different
quarters, in a large well-equipped body; and, according to
the words of Saint Paul: “They which run in a race run

A.D, 1404.

p. 94.

A.D, 1404.

270 THE CHRONICLE OF

all,” 1 they strive manfully for the prize. They set up
three large silver rings, tied to a rope up aloft, and,
galloping past them on their horses, they hurl lances
through them, to carry them off as prizes. At these games
are present the senator of the city, the two wardens, and
the seven regents, in state dress, the block and axe being
borne before them for the punishment of the mutinous. In
the same games, too, the Romans run riot like brute beasts
in drunkenness (the feast of misery), with unbridled extra-
vagance, like to the sons of Belial and Belphegor.

Then, on the same Sunday, at the cost of the Jews, four
carts covered with scarlet cloth, in which are eight live
boars, being placed on the top of the mountain of all the
earth (which is so called because it is made of earth brought
thither from all parts of the world in token of universal
lordship)’, are yoked with eight wild bulls; and, they being
shaken open by the swift descent downhill and the beasts
set free, the whole becomes the prey of the people. And
then every man pell-mell rushes at the beasts with his
weapon ; and, if it so happen that any one brings not home
to his wife some part of the spoil, he is accounted a poor
spirit and a craven who shall not have her company till the
feast of Saint Pancras. And often in the scuffle they cut
down or wound in particular the courtiers whom they hate
for wrongs done to wives and daughters.

After this, they set up on the points of spears three cloths,
one of gold for the best horses, and another of silver for the

1 1 Cor. ix, 24.

2 The Monte Testaccio, an artificial mound of some size, measuring
in circumference at the base about half a mile, situated near the
Tiber, to the south of the Aventine. It was the rubbish-heap of the
Romans, which began to accumulate, it is thought, about the begin-
ning of the empire. It consists almost entirely of broken pottery,
chiefly of vessels used in the importation of products from the pro-
vinces and mostly from Spain. The adjoining landing stages were
apparently cleared periodically of broken or waste vessels, which
were discharged on to this site.

ADAM OF USK 271

second best, and the third of silk for the swiftest mares; A.D. 1404.
and whichever horseman severally reaches them first in the
races takes them as prizes.

At length, after the onslaught on the beasts, some with
shreds, others with the guts or filth on their sword-points,
they depart in sorry procession home to their wives.

On the feast of the Purification (2nd February) the pope
blesses candles, and, seated on his throne, he gives them
out, not only to each there present, but also to all the
catholic princes and princesses of the world, greater or
smaller according to the differences of state and rank.
They are made of white virgin wax. So too on Ash
Wednesday, in his own person, he distributes ashes to all
present, And of all this I was witness; for I received the
candles for the king and queen of England, and I held the
bason of cinders for the pope.

On my first coming to Rome, I heard of a certain prophet,
who falsely gave himself out to be Elias and that he was
sent on earth by God the Father to beget His son Christ; p. 96.
and that he had spurned Christ with his foot as He bare
the cross to His crucifixion; and he declared that that
woman, who should be thought worthy to be gotten with
child by him and to conceive the Christ, should be blesse
for ever and ever and should have the true glory which
was assigned to the false Mary. But, carrying on his rites
and services in secret places and corners, he cunningly kept
himself out of light. And so it came about that Roman
ladies visited him with eagerness to lie with him, feeding
him with all sorts of dainties. But at last he was found
out by the Romans, and dragged out of hiding, and carried
away to the Capitol; where, after confessing that he had
dishonoured more than a hundred Roman ladies, wives,
widows, and virgins, (and he had done the same at Venice,)
he was burned.

On the (fourth) Sunday in mid-Lent, in which is chanted
“Leetare Hierusalem,” for relief of Lent now half-spent, the

A.D. 1404.

p. 97.

272 THE CHRONICLE OF

pope at mass bears in his hand a rose? of great price, cun-
ningly wrought of gold and silver, and anointed with myrrh
and balsam whereby it gives forth sweet perfume through
all the church, and after mass he gives it to the most noble
knight there present ; who, with his friends then gathered
together in his honour, afterwards rides forth on the same
day in full state, bearing it in his hand’.

On behalf of the emperor of Constantinople, a solemn
embassy came to the pope, declaring that they had been
wrongfully bereft of the Roman empire, which was due to
them as sprung from the person of the great Constantine,
but which was wickedly usurped by the tyrant of Germany ;
and they prayed him that it be given back, with the king-
dom of Naples and all Lombardy, or that otherwise a day
and field be by him appointed to either side, in front of the
city, to fight for this claim. The pope answered that,
because of their heresies and schisms, and mostly for that
concerning the Holy Ghost, whom they affirm to proceed
from the Father alone and not from the Son, and because
they make not oral confession, and put leaven in the bread,
therefore were they righteously bereft of that same empire.
Moreover, he added with a smile: “ We seek not to have to
do with the shedding of Christian blood.”

From these Greeks I learned that the princes of Greece
were fully descended from the said Constantine and his
three uncles, Trehern, Llewellyn, and Meric, and from other
thirty thousand Britons who were carried thither from
Britain with him ; and that such men of British race, in
token of their blood and lordship, bear axes in their
country, which others do not®. I learned further that

1 The MS. reads ‘‘ rosarium.”

2 The rose is sent to a princess or a favourite church. The institu-
tion of the ceremony is attributed to Urban V., who sent a rose in
1366 to Joan, queen of Sicily.—Cérémonies, etc., ij. 15.

8 The Warangian guards are evidently here referred to. This

body of men has been represented as formed from English, Celtic, or
German recruits. ‘‘ With their broad and double-edged battle-axes

ADAM OF USK 273

their empire is almost worn out by the attacks of Turks A.D. 1404.
and Tartars—just as the land of the Britons, the land of
their origin, was laid waste by the Saxons, as all men
know.

On Palm Sunday, the pope has palms and branches
blessed, and afterwards, as above said of the candles, he
also distributes the same, which are sent abroad altogether
at the cost of the Genoese; but, failing the palms, olive-
branches are given, at least to those there present. But the
pope himself bears aloft two palm-branches and two branches
filled with dates, of a great weight, in support whereof two
knights attend him.

On Holy Thursday, the pope mixes the oil and chrism,
and after mass, outside the gate of St. Peter, with the
greatest solemnity he goes up on a raised scaffold and, in
the vestments of the mass, glittering with gold and precious
stones, he blesses the people. And from thence, the
veronica being first seen, the pilgrims in a thronging crowd
depart with joyful hearts.

At the last, he excommunicates by name the anti-pope
along with his cardinals and favourers, and all heretics,
schismatics, pirates, and brigands, and those who hinder
the free passage of pilgrims and of provision (and above
all that for the palace apostolic) to Rome!. And herefor
he himself and all the cardinals hold in their hands white

on their shoulders, they attended the Greek emperor to the temple,
the senate and the hippodrome; he slept and feasted under their
trusty guard; and the keys of the palace, the treasury, and the
capital, were held by the firm and faithful hands of the Warangians”
(Gibbon, Decline and Fall, ch. lv.). There was a great migration of
Englishmen to the East after the Norman invasion, and “among the
Englishmen who at various times during William’s reign sought
fresh homes in foreign lands, not a few made their way to the New
Rome, and there, in the service of the Eastern Emperors, they not
uncommonly had the satisfaction of meeting the kinsmen of their
conquerors in open battle” (Freeman, Norman Conquest, iv. 627).

? For example, in 1398, Onorato, count of Fondi, in his quarrel
with Boniface IX., had seized Ostia and cut off the supplies.

fh

A.D. 1404.

p. 98.

274 THE CHRONICLE OF

waxen candles, and, when the excommunication is finished,
they cast them among the people with the final words:
“So be it! So be it!”

At length, after the banquet, he washes the feet of his
guests, giving to each one two groats!; the which money
his servants receive again from them who had it, for that
in this behalf they carry them on their shoulders to the
pope.

On Easter Day the office of the pope differs but little
from the office of other days, save that he allots one share
of the Host to his sub-deacon, and another share to his
deacon, and the third share to himself in communion; and
turning his face to the people, he sucks and draws up the
Blood through a long golden tube, decked in the middle
with the arms of the king of Aragon. The arms of the same
king have also other two privileges in the court, by reason
of benefits of his ancestors: for letters of grace, as it is
known, are adorned with silken threads in the colours of
the said arms; and the pope’s canopy too has its yellow
and red colours*. But after the banquet, holding converse
in his chamber with his guests, he sits upon his throne,
and he gives bountifully and dispenses with his own hands
ginger and pepper, in token of the pepper which was ex-
changed between Darius the great and Alexander the
great ®,

On the Saturday in Easter the pope celebrates mass in
albs, and, just as above said of the candles and the palms,

1 The grossus or Italian “ grozzo,” a silver coin of four ‘“ danari.”
It was on this coin that the English groat of fourpence was based
in 1351.

? Innocent VII. was a Neapolitan.

3’ It was not pepper that was exchanged between Darius and
Alexander. Adam, as usual, knows only half the story. The fable
tells us that Darius sent to Alexander some sesame seed, as typical of
the multitude of his troops. Alexander replied that the seed was
numerous but tasteless, and, as typical of his own troops, sent mustard
seed to Darius, who found it small but pungent.

ADAM OF USK 275

he distributes consecrated Agnus Dei! of white wax; and
I held the bason *, which was emptied many times, and I had
for myself those that were left at the end. And as to this
Agnus, here are verses :—

“Of balm and cleanstd wax and chrism distilled
This Lamb is made, a gift with power fulfilled:
The Fountain’s Child, whom mysteries express,

It guards the labouring mother in her stress.
From lightning flash, from things malign it saves;
The chaste who bear it do not fear the waves.

It stifles sin, as erst the blood of Christ.

The good find gifts. E’en fire may not resist.
From sudden death it shields, from Satan’s woe;
Who honours it shall triumph o’er the Foe.”

Master Richard Scrope, now approved a saint by reason of
countless miracles, archbishop of York, of England primate,
and of the apostolic see legate, as well as that most seemly
youth and illustrious, the earl of Nottingham, marshal of
England, because that, as it was declared, they were rebels
to the king, were beheaded at York*. The citizens of
York, lying naked to their drawers on the ground, as if

1 Cakes of wax stamped with the Agnus Dei.

2 The bason in which the Agnus Dei were placed and presented to
the pope for distribution. ‘‘ Chaque pape, la premiére année de son
pontificat, et puis de sept ans en sept ans, a coutume la semaine dans
l’octave de Paques de bénir solennellement les Agnus Dei, qui sont
de petits pains de cire blanche, ronds, tant soit peu elliptiques ou
ovales, moulés en forme de médailles, oi il y a d’un cété la figure de
Jésus-Christ ressuscité, moulée sous celle d’un agneau qui tient
l’étendard de la Croix, et de l’autre part il y a sur le revers quelque
saint en demi-relief, qui est ordinairement ou le patron particulier du
pape régnant, & scavoir celui qui porte son nom de baptéme, ou celui
pour lequel il a le plus de dévotion, et dont il croit l’intercession
plus efficace auprés de Dieu.” — Tableau de la Cour de Rome, 355.

8 Archbishop Scrope and Thomas Mowbray, earl marshal and earl
of Nottingham, joined the rising of the earl of Northumberland and
lord Bardolf, whose fate is described afterwards; they were beheaded
at York on the 8th June, 1405.

ee,

A.D. 1404.

A.D. 1405.
p. 99.

276 THE CHRONICLE OF

A.D. 1405. a second Day of Judgement were come, on account of their
favour shown in this behalf, sued and had the king’s
pardon.

On the seventh day of August, fourteen chief citizens of
Rome, for that in the consistory they scoffed at the pope
and his deeds, were slaughtered by his nephew, captain of }
the men at arms, as they were going away, at San Spirito1!.
Wherefore the Romans, to the number of three hundred
thousand, rose in fury, shouting death to the pope and to
all his courtiers and to foreigners. Forthwith fled the
pope, along with his men at arms, to Viterbo. Those who
stay behind are slaughtered, or cast into prison and robbed.
And that day was to me, the writer of this history, a day
of wrath and of calamity and of misery, for that, being
stripped even to my shoe-latchets, I hardly escaped their
tyranny with my life, lying hid for eight days in the garb
of the friars preachers.

The Romans, with trumpets going etic acclaim the
pope a traitor and a hypocrite, and reverse his arms in
the streets, and paint a picture of him head downwards
with the devil bringing him the crown. Forthwith the
king of Naples with his Ghibellines and his army seized -
the city. By help and favour of a certain Roman, I, like
the beggar that I was, (for a merchant had fled with my
moneys at the first report,) in company with sailors, and

1 On the death of Boniface IX. on the 1st October, 1404, and the
subsequent election of Innocent VII., Ladislas, king of Naples, who
had befriended Boniface, reconciled the Romans to the new pontiff,
but with an ulterior view to his own advantage. Quarrelling recom-
menced in the next year. On the 2nd August, 1405, the citizens
attempted to wrest possession of the Ponte Molle from the papal
troops, but they were repulsed with loss. Negotiations were then
opened, and on the 6th of the month a deputation of the Romans
waited on the pope. On their way back they were decoyed by the
pope’s nephew, Ludovico, marquis of Ancona, into the hospital of San
Spirito, and eleven of them were massacred. The people rose, and
Innocent fled from Rome on the evening of the same day.—Creighton,
History of the Papacy (1897), ij. 188.

ADAM OF USK 277

even as one of them, passing by way of the Tiber and
Ostia and the city of Albano, (where Brutus, grandson
of Aineas and first king of the Britons, was born,)
through Corneto, came to the pope at Viterbo, telling
him all. Wherefore, jeering at me, he used to say:
“Get thee back to thy mates, and don thy sailor's garb
again!”

On the feast of the Epiphany (6th January) the wretched
Romans, being oppressed by the said king, sent the keys
of the city to the pope, promising to him full dominion
over the city.

I, the writer of this history, was poisoned at Viterbo i
the dart of the envious; wherefore, swooning away seven
times, I was laid out for dead; and, by reason of the
thieving of the Romans and the flight of the merchants,
as I have told above, my friends too going their way when
my goods went theirs, for a season I was bereft of the
means of life. But, under the order of the pope, the
poison was found out in my turbid urine by a certain
Jew, the pope’s physician, Helias by name; and after
much suffering and cost, blessed be God!, my health was
renewed. And according to the word of the Lord: “ Adam
the man is become as one of us,’! I was restored to the
Rota among the coauditors.

At Rome, meanwhile, in the palace of St. Peter and
on the papal throne sat John of Colonna, chief patron of
the Ghibellines and ruthless delegate of the above-named
king, and thrust out his feet to be kissed and shrank not
from doing other unheard-of things in mockery of the pope.
And therefore the pope sent forth to Rome, against the
tyranny of the king and this John, a great host under
Paul Orsini, his captain”. And so, the followers of the
king taking to flight, the blockade was raised and the
invasion crushed.

1 Gen. iij. 22. ? On the 26th August, 1405.

A.D, 1405.

p. 100.

A.D. 1406.

A.D. 1406.

“A.D. 1406.

p.- 101,

278 THE CHRONICLE OF

The pope with his court went back Romewards'; and,
according to the line:

“For, in sooth, the scarlet cope
Marketh death for thee, O pope” ;

and again:
“Of justice that is fair in thee
May the white horse token be!”

he has four white chargers of state for his saddle-horses,
trapped with gold and precious stones and red silk. On
one he sits; and three follow, mounted by nobles. The
canopy with the arms of the king of Aragon is borne aloft on
spear-points above him. He is robed in a very wide cape, aye,
of exceeding width, of bright scarlet, the borders whereof are
held spread out by four running footmen, so that the horse
cannot be seen; and all round about him is overshadowed.
He is girt about the breast above the stole and the rochet,
which is very fine. There are four broad hats, with cords
of cunning and precious workmanship, of red silk, whereof
he wears one on his head; and the other three are set upon
three stands on three horses sumptuously trapped, the cords
of the same being knotted and reaching to the ground on
either side of the necks of the horses, which are ridden by
three nobles, who go before in company with the pope;
and thereto other things of pomp unheard of by men and
greatly to be wondered at. There follows him on a great
white horse a chair for sitting, for mounting, for dismount-
ing, and for withdrawing for the needs of nature, fitted
with a fixed ladder or steps. Boys with olive branches meet
him, crying “‘ Hosanna!” Many things hath mine eye seen,
but greater than these hath not mine ear heard?. And in
truth I, the writer of this history, many times communed
with myself by the way.

There was argued before me in the palace apostolic the

1 Innocent returned to Rome on the 13th March, and lived there
quietly till his death, 6th November, 1406. * Job xij. 1.

ADAM OF USK 279

case of and concerning the monastery of Saint Mary of
Scotland at Vienna in Germany. Marvelling whence the
Scots had to do with that, I enquired and had it thus :—
By reason of the pestilent teaching of Mahomet, religion
both public and private throughout all Germany being
quenched, and afterwards by Charles the great being re-
stored among the people, Saint Columcille? was brought
out of Ireland, because the faith failed not there, for the
instruction and edification of the princes, and he restored
and built up again the religion of private men. Whence, in
all the chief places throughout Germany, monasteries of
the Scots (now called the Irish) are known as cells subject
to the monasteries of Ireland, (late called Scotland after
Scota, the daughter of Pharaoh,) and held in the profession
of Scottish, now Irish, saints, who were sent over hither
to this intent. And surely, as to the change of name: is
it not from those same Scots coming into Britain that the
name of Albany was changed and called, after them, Scot-
land? Is it not from the Britons occupying Armorica that
the name was changed and the land is now called Brittany?
And so from the Angles, England, from the Hiberi, Hibernia
or Ireland, are borrowed names. And thus passeth the glory
of the world!

A.D. 1406.

p. 102.

Among other miracles of this Saint Columcille, who lies .

buried together with Saint Patrick and Saint Bridget in

Down in Ulster, is this: invocation of his name being

uttered, and at the same time being written down and

cast into the flames, overcomes fire. . Whence the verses :—
“Saint Columba, with thy name

Quench the mischief of the flame!”
and
“ Grant, Columba, my desire ;
Keep this roof-tree safe from fire!”

1 The Schottenkloster, founded in 1158.

2 It is scarcely necessary to say that Saint Columba was never in
Germany; and to make him contemporary with Charlemagne is
too absurd.

A.D. 1406,

A.D. 1412.

280 THE CHRONICLE OF

These then, as of origin Scots out of Egypt, after the
passage of the children of Israel through the Red Sea,
seeing that the plagues of God smote them, forsook their
native soil, and dwelled under the king of Spain in the
Basque country. But, being accused to the king, and in
token of their treason having had their clothes cut in front,
and being accused a second time and having had them cut
behind also, they were expelled as traitors, with their gar-
ments thus shorn, in the time of Gurguint Brabtrue, king
of the Britons, the founder of Canterbury and son of the
great Belin, who, being on his way home from Norway,
from collecting tribute, granted to them Ireland, which was
then untilled, to be held of him?.

Certain nobles of Ireland (in whom I trust not, but
rather in Saint Patrick) declared to me, at the time when
I was procuring high promotions for them, that after the
said passage the Scots served the children of Israel in the
desert, and above all by bringing away the brazen serpent.
But, because they differed in faith, they were driven away,
and went down into the Basque country, as above said ;7)
and for such service they were rewarded by the God of the
children of Israel, and to this day are free from noisome |
snakes. a

From a certain chaplain of the diocese of Bangor, re-
turned back from the Holy Land, I had it that he with
other five hundred pilgrims, being driven by stress of
weather at sea within the dominion of the soldan of Babylon,
was cast into prison and held captive for the space of
a year. But, the soldan having been conquered meanwhile

1 Adam would find both in Geoffrey of Monmouth and in Giraldus
Cambrensis the story of the colonization of Ireland by the Scots,
whom king Gurguint Brabtruc, on his way home from subjugating
the rebellious Danes, met just arrived in their ships from Spain at the
Orkney Isles. But it does not appear whence he got the episode of
the shorn garments. See Galfredi Monumetensis Hist. Britonum (ed.
Giles), 49; and Giraldi Cambrensis Topographia Hibernica als
series), dist iij. cap. viij.

ADAM OF USK 281

in a stricken field by the king of Damascus and beheaded, A.D. 1412.
the new soldan summoned those same pilgrims before his p. 103.
judgement-seat, who for mercy cast themselves down before

him; and he smote with violence on the judgement-seat

two strokes with a naked sword which he bare in his hand,

but a third blow with gentleness and graciously, in token

of pity and forbearance—otherwise they had all been dead
men—and he spake thus: “Let the men of Genoa, along

with all those of France and Spain, seeing that they are of

their league, be led back to prison, to pay ransom as re-
prisal, because three ships of their people have plundered us.

But let all the other Christians be let go free, for I would

' gladly with justice show favour to all Christians.” And

thus the chaplain went forth free }.

On the feast of Saint Barnabas (11th June), being im- A.D. 1406.
poverished by disbursements, as I have told above, and on
account of the thanklessness of friends, as I shall tell below,

I departed from the court; and I journeyed through Siena,
Genoa, the marquisate of Montferrat, Asti, Moncalieri, and
Susa, and, on the feast of the blessed Peter and Paul
(29th June), over the Mont Cenis, almost perished with

1 Adam has here anticipated an event which happened in the year
1412. He must have met the Bangor chaplain after his return home
to Wales, and not, as one would suppose from his narrative, while he
was abroad. The “soldan of Babylon” or sultan of Egypt into whose
power the chaplain fell was Nasir Faraj, of the Mamluk dynasty of
sultans who governed Egypt from the middle of the thirteenth century
to the early part of the fifteenth century. In 1412 he was defeated
by the amir Shaykh el Mahmudi, governor of Damascus, and was
executed on the 28th of May of that year. The caliph Musta‘in was
temporarily made sultan, and was the “new soldan” spoken of in the
text. He was of the line of Abbasid caliphs, of the second branch,
who took refuge in Egypt in the thirteenth century and remained
under the protection of the sultans until the conquest of Egypt by
the Turks in 1517. European pirates had raided the coasts of Egypt
and Syria in the early years of the fifteenth century.—See Deguignes,
Hist. générale des Huns (1756), p. 331; Jarrett, Hist. of the Caliphs
(1881), p.534; and 8. L. Poole, The Mohammadan Dynasties (1894),
pp. 80-83, and Hist. of Egypt in the Middle Ages (1901), p. 333.

A.D. 1406.

A.D. 1405.

p. 104.

282 THE CHRONICLE OF

the cold, and through Savoy by way of Lans-le-bourg and
Aiguebelle; in which town I saw formally emblazoned in
a hostel the arms of the lord Lionel, duke of Clarence, the
second born of England, and of the other nobles who came
with him out of England to his marriage with the daughter
of the lord Galeazzo, lord of Lombardy '.

On the feast of Saint Gregory (12th March), Griffith,
eldest son of Owen, with a great following made assault,
in an evil hour for himself, on the castle of Usk, which
had been put into some condition for defence, and wherein
at ‘that time were the lord Grey, of Codnor, sir John
Greyndour’, and many other soldiers of the king. For
those same lords, sallying forth manfully, took him captive,
and pursuing his men even to the hill-country of Higher
Gwent, through the river Usk, there slew with fire and
the edge of the sword many of them, and above all
the abbot of Llanthony, and they crushed them without
ceasing, driving them through the monks’ wood, where
the said Griffith was taken*. And their captives, to
the number of three hundred, they beheaded in front
of the same castle near Ponfald; and certain prisoners of
more noble birth they brought, along with the same
Griffith, to the king. The which Griffith, being held in
captivity for six years, at last in the Tower of London was

1 Lionel, duke of Clarence, married, as his second wife, Violante
Visconti, daughter of Gian Galeazzo, duke of Milan, on the 28th May,
1368, and died in the following October.

? Richard de Grey, baron Grey of Codnor, and sir John Greyndour,
or Grendor.

8 This defeat of Glendower’s followers took place at ‘‘ Pwl-Melyn
mountain near Usk.” Owen’s brother Tudor was slain. It followed
immediately on the defeat at Grosmont of 11th March, 1405. Adam’s
date is a little too early: perhaps he has confused the dates of
the two battles. The Annales Henrici quarti, 399, gives the date as
the 5th May. Otterbourne, 251, on the other hand, places the battle
as early as the 15th March. See Wylie, Henry the Fourth, ij. 171;
Kingsford, Henry V., 52. Monkswood lies about a mile and a half
north-west of Usk.

ADAM OF USK 283

cut off by a pestilence. And from that time forth in those
parts the fortunes of Owen waned.

At length, setting out from Aiguebelle, I passed under
a safe-conduct through Grande Chartreuse, and through
the midst of Burgundy, Beaune, the nurse of the better
wine of France, and Dijon, to Troyes in Champagne ; and
I crossed over the borders of the Isle of France to Provins
and Brie-Comte-Robert, and to Paris; and at last I came
down by way of Clermont and Amiens (where I saw the
head of Saint John Baptist) and Arras, to Bruges in Flan-
ders. And there Richard Lancaster, king of arms?!, coun-
selled me, for that the king threatened me with death, that
I should in no wise enter into England, without his royal
grace first assured; which indeed he promised to obtain
for me, and on account of which I waited for him in
those parts for the space of two years, although to no
purpose.

I had it also that all my benefices had been granted to
others, [whereby my substance] was forspent to the sum of
hundreds of marks. To be brief, I pondered many things.
But with Job I cried: “ Shall we receive good at the hand
of God, and shall we not receive evil?” ?

In the said space of two years I travelled through the
lands of Flanders and France and Normandy and Brittany,
serving as counsel to many bishops and abbots and princes ;
and I got me some gain thereby. And twice in that season,
while I was sleeping, I was clean stripped, at least on the
second time, even to my breeches, by certain Welshmen in
whom I had placed my trust. And assuredly on that same
day I afterwards had of the bounty of the aforesaid princes
one hundred and twenty crowns.

The earl of Northumberland and the lord of Bardolf*,
after many misfortunes, first fleeing from before the face of

1 Richard del Brugg, or Brugge, created Lancaster king of arms by
Henry IV. 2 Job ij. 10.
5 Thomas Bardolf, baron Bardolf of Wormegay.

A.D, 1405.

A.D. 1406.

A.D. 1406
-1408.

A.D. 1406
-1408.

p. 105.

A.D. 1408,

284 THE CHRONICLE OF

king Henry into Scotland, (the son of the lord Henry Perey,
and grandson and heir of the same earl, having been sur-
rendered as hostage,) thence passed under a safe-conduct
into Wales to Owen, seeking aid, and there they tarried for
a season; and at length they were overthrown in stricken
field by the English under my lord of Powis'. Then
they came into France also, under safe-conduct, seeking
aid against the same king, but labouring in vain, for that
the duke of Orleans withstood them. And, because I too
often held converse with them, I thereby drew down on me
the greater wrath of king Henry, when he knew thereof.
At last the earl was traitorously enticed again into Scot-
land and thence into England by certain who promised
under false seals that he should have the kingdom. And
he held out to me great advancement, if I should pass over
along with him; but God visited mine heart, and I be-
thought me: “ Adam, thus beset in a maze, place thyself
in the hand of the Lord!” And God sent an evil spirit,
and according to their deserts, between the king and the
same earl, after the way of Abimelech, as it is read in the
book of Judges*. And therefore I turned my cloak, and
I inclined my footsteps to my lord of Powis, abiding the
favour of the king and his kingdom, if God should grant
it; and so it came to pass.

The aforesaid lords passed over into Scotland and thence
with an armed band into England, trusting to have the
kingdom for themselves. But the sheriff of York®, being
well ware of their coming, crushed them in battle and
beheaded them, and sent their heads to king Henry; which
were afterwards set up beyond London bridge*. And when

1 Rdward de Cherleton, baron Cherleton, feudal lord of Powis, K.G.

2 ix. 23. 3 Thomas Rokeby.

4 They were defeated at Bramham Moor, 19th February, 1408.
Bardolf died of his wounds. His body was quartered, and his head
was set up over one of the gates of Lincoln. Northumberland fell on
the field. His body was quartered and beheaded.

ADAM OF USK 285

I heard these things, I, the writer of this history, gave
thanks unto Him who foreseeth what is to come, for that
I had stayed behind.

By the means and furtherance of the duke of Burgundy,
the duke of Orleans, on account of his unheard-of greed
passing all bounds, (the infirmity of the king of France
being the cause thereof,) although he was the king’s
brother, was put to death as a usurper of the govern-
ment!. Whence arose a mighty seething up of rebellion,
which even now has not ceased, within the realm of
France, as all men know. The bishop of Liége*, who
was the brother of the wife of the duke of Burgundy,
came to Paris, to his aid, with five thousand armed men;
and this aid forthwith the same duke did afterwards reward
in full. For when the bishop’s diocese rose in wide rebellion,
for that he would not be ordained to the priesthood, and
when by authority of the antipope another was chosen in
his stead, his adversary was slain in mortal battle by the
said duke, together with sixteen thousand men and upwards ;
and the same bishop was restored unto his high estate.

In truth, there ought to be in France twelve peers, to
wit, three dukes and three counts, spiritual; and three
dukes and three counts, temporal; as appears in the
lines :—

* Dukes temporal in France are three:
First name we him of Burgundy ;
And peers of him are princes twain
Of Normandy and Aquitaine.

High prelates of the same degree
And rank are also counted three ;

? Louis, duke of Orleans, brother of Charles VI., was murdered by
John the Fearless, duke of Burgundy, his cousin, on the 23rd November,
1407.

* John of Bavaria, bishop of Liége, 1890-1417, son of Albert, count
of Holland. He died in 1428. His sister Margaret was duchess of
Burgundy.

A.D. 1408.

o,f

p. 106.

A.D. 1408.

A.D. 1410.

286 THE CHRONICLE OF

Their sees are Rheims, a mighty one,
And Langres next, and eke Laon.

Great counts we number thrice again,
Of Toulouse, Flanders, and Champagne ;
And bishops in the same array

Of Chalons, Noyon, and Beauvais.”

But the king, treating the peerages with scorn, seized
them to himself on every opportunity, so that he now
has gotten to himself four of those which are temporal
and has joined them to the crown; and other two, of Bur-
gundy and Flanders to wit, the same duke holds. And
this was the source of evils, because, when the king fell
sick, the duke of Burgundy claimed that the governance
of the realm belonged to him only.

The master of Prussia, of the order of chivalry of Saint
Mary of the Teutons, in these days marched into the realm
of the Turks, and conquered in battle their king, together
with five hundred knights who were driven in flight. But
straightway afterwards he himself, by reason of his too
great pride, was defeated by the king of Poland}.

From the Teutons I had it that, in honour of Arthur,
king of Britain, for that he delivered them from the hands
of the Romans, throughout all the cities and chief places
of Germany great festivals are held in honour of stranger
princes who come thither. The public place of the city,
being endowed with revenues for the purpose, is decked
out; and wines and spices, and dances with all melody of
music, and with courteous welcome of lords and ladies, are
lavished right nobly.

Master John Trevaur, doctor of laws and bishop of
St. Asaph, casting off his special friendship for the English,
threw in his lot with the fortunes of Owen, in peace and in
war; and, having twice passed over into France seeking

1 The Teutonic knights, under their master Ulrich von Jungingen,
were disastrously defeated, in 1410, by Vladislas, king of Poland, at
Tannenberg, near Potsdam.

ADAM OF USK 287

aid of armed men, he was translated to a see among the
Indians ; and the abbot of Llanegwast ' was chosen bishop
of St. Asaph in his stead. But the same master John, thus
fallen into ill fortune, betook himself to Rome, where, be-
yond Tiber, on the fifth day of October, in the year of our
Lord 1412, he died 2.

While I was in Bruges, the above-named earl of North-
umberland and lord of Bardolf were lodged, the one in the
monastery of Eeckhout*, and the other in a hospice in the
midst of the city. And on the eve of Saint Brice (12th
November), in the twilight of the evening, there came from
the side of England in the air a ball of fire, greater than
a large barrel, lighting up, as it were, the whole world.
And, as it drew near, all men were astounded and stood in
fear lest the city should be destroyed. But it passed on

1 Or de Valle Crucis abbey, co. Denbigh.

? John Trevaur, or Trevor, created bishop of St. Asaph in 1395.
After serving the crown staunchly for many years, he went over to
Owen in 1404, and was immediately deprived. He was concerned in
Northumberland’s rebellion, and fled with him into Scotland in 1405;
and he remained true to Owen’s cause for the rest of his life (Wylie,
Henry the Fourth, ij.10). The date of his death is uncertain. An
epitaph in the chapel of the infirmary of the abbey of St. Victor of
Paris is said to mark the place of his burial. But, according to
Browne Willis (Le Neve, Fasti, i. 70), the words of the inscription
are: ‘“ Johannes episcopus Hereford, in Wallia, qui obiit anno Domini
1410, die Veneris, 10° mensis Aprilis.” This reading, however, is
differently given by Bradley, Owen Glyndwr, 299, who does not quote
his authority: “Johannes episcopus Asaphensis in Wallia, qui obiit
A.D. 1410, die secundo mensis Aprilis.” The see was filled in 1411
by the appointment of Robert of Lancaster, who was probably the
abbot of Valle Crucis mentioned by Adam, for he seems to have been
connected with that house, an existing charter of his being dated
there (Le Neve, i. 71). Adam was no doubt personally acquainted
with Trevaur, and he is curiously precise in his statement of the place
and date of his death. But, whatever the rest of the statement may
be worth, the fact that the see was filled in 1411 and not till then
seems to substantiate the date of 1410 as the year of Trevaur’s death ;
and 1412 in the text may be only a clerical error.

8 The monastery of St. Bartholomew of Eeckhout, an early founda-
tion, which was demolished in 1798.

A.D, 1410.

A.D, 1406.

p. 107.

A.D. 1406,

p. 110.

p. 111.

288 THE CHRONICLE OF

straight against the belfry of Saint Mary, and, being severed
in twain by the blow, it drove apart its two portions to
fall over against the doors of the said earl and lord: a
mighty token, as did afterwards appear, of their ruin.

In the chronicles of the same monastery, I found this
which here follows, written in mockery of the French,
for that in former days they were routed by the men of
Flanders :—

The Passion of the French, according to the Flemings}.

Likewise I found it recorded in the chronicle of Martinus,
in the history of Constantine the second, that in a very
ancient tomb at Constantinople there was found a plate of
gold with this writing thereon: “Jesus Christ shall be
born of the Virgin Mary; and I believe in Him.” Also,
that in Spain a certain Jew, while he was breaking up
some stony ground wherein to plant vines, found in
the middle of a rock which he clove asunder a book of
leaves of stone containing the same words, and further-
more setting forth the division of the course of the
world into three parts, from Adam even unto Antichrist,
and of each part its conditions. And of Christ it thus
began: “Jesus Christ, the Son of God, shall be born of
the Virgin Mary, and He shall suffer for the people; and
I believe in Him. And I shall be found in the days of

1 The mock chronicle is so offensively profane that it is better left
without translation. The battle of Courtrai, in which the French
army under Robert of Artois was routed with fearful slaughter, was
fought on the 11th July, 1302.

ADAM OF USK 289

Ferdinand, king of Castille.” And thus it was. And the
Jew was baptized.

Out of the annals of the Hebrews, lo!, the tokens which
shall forerun the Day of Judgement: On the first day,
shall the sea rise forty cubits above all the mountains, not
outspread, but standing, after the fashion of a wall, in its
own place. On the second day, it shall fall again, so that
it shall scarce be seen. On the third day, all fishes shall
lift up a cry unto heaven, which God only doth under-
stand ; and I believe that they shall render the last witness
to the Creator. On the fourth day, the seas and all waters
shall burn with fire. On the fifth day, all trees and herbs
shall sweat a bloody dew; and all the fowls of the air, after
their kind, shall flock together, and shall taste naught
while they meditate on their Creator. On the sixth day,
buildings shall fall; and there shall be thunder-bolts of
fire from the setting of the sun even to his rising. On
the seventh day, rocks shall clash together and shall be
rent in four pieces, the sound whereof God alone knoweth.
On the eighth day, there shall be so mighty a quaking of
the earth, that all things on the face thereof shall be laid
low. On the ninth day, all things which are rough shall be
ground down to powder, and the earth shall be made plain.
On the tenth day, men shall come forth from the caves,
and for terror they shall not be able to speak together.
On the eleventh day, all bones of dead men shall be laid
bare above their sepulchres, On the twelfth day, the stars
and constellations and all the other bodies of the firmament
shall send forth perplexed and fiery rays; and the beasts
of the earth shall gather in the fields, with a mighty
lowing, tasting naught. On the thirteenth day, all living
beings shall die, and shall rise again with the dead. On
the fourteenth day, the heavens and the earth shall burn
with fire. On the fifteenth day, there shall be made a new
heaven and a new earth, and all men shall rise again to
receive judgement; and on that day may the Son of the

U

A, D. 1 406.

A.D, 1406,

290 THE CHRONICLE OF

Virgin, who shall judge the world because He hath redeemed
it with His blood, place us on His right hand in company
with the sheep!

Yet, before those tokens come to pass, Antichrist shall
strive to deceive the world for a season of four weeks.
In the first week, he shall labour, by declaring that he is
the Christ promised by the law, to pervert the meaning of
Holy Writ, and to destroy the law of Christ and to stablish
his own. And he shall sit in the temple, as it were God,
that he may take away the law of Christ (Daniel xj. “ They
shall place the abomination that maketh desolate”’+; with
the gloss). In the second week, by the working of miracles ;
for he shall make fire come down from heaven on the earth ?
through an evil spirit, even as Christ through the Holy
Ghost (Revelation xiij.; with the gloss). In the third week,
by abundance of gifts, for the treasures of the earth shall
be laid open unto him * by the devils, and he shall share
them, together with the land, among his followers (Daniel
xj.; with the gloss). In the fourth week, by the wreak-
ing of torments, for those whom he shall not be able to
entice in the things aforenamed he shall slay cruelly; as
in Revelation, concerning Elias and Enoch and others who
resist him.

Lo!, here are verses that tell forth the tokens of the
Judgement :—

“Ere the Judgement draweth near,
All the world perplexed shall be ;
Tokens rough and signs of fear
Thrice five days shall mortals see.

Jerome, skilled in Hebrew lore,
Warnings of these tokens sent,

That the wicked may implore
Grace from lasting punishment.

1 Dan. xj. 31. 2 Rev. xiij. 13. Dan. xj. 43.

ADAM OF USK 291

Witness they shall bear and prove, A.D. 1406.
With the old world’s passing knell,

Cruel torments, if we love
Earthly blandishments too well.

Ocean first aloft shall pile
All his waters in a heap,
Topping mountain peaks, the while
Gathered up from out the deep.

Then to earth again he sinks ; p. 113.
Eye of man shall scarce discern

Where within his bed he shrinks,
Till his wonted state return.

Fishes from the flood shall rise,

Heaven with lowings deep assail ;
Flocking birds with doleful cries

Loud shall mourn, and beasts shall wail.

Dawns the fourth and dreadful day:
Flame devours the mighty deep;
Rivers burn; and in dismay,
Parched with fear, men pale and weep.

Clouds shall veil the fifth day’s sun ;
Blood shall growing herbs bedew,

Blood like sweat all earth o’errun,
Blood the living trees embrue.

Shattered is the embattled wall,
Tower and town uprooted lie ;
Scarce in war might worse ‘befall,
For the hour of doom is nigh.

Rock with rock shall clash in fight;
Men shall pray, in terror driven,
Cave and mountain if they might
Hide them from the wrath of Heaven.
U 2

292

A.D. 1406.

p. 114.

THE CHRONICLE OF

Lo!, the earth shall quake again ;
Creatures stumble all amazed;

Places rough shall now be plain,
Hills abased and valleys raised.

They erstwhile who caverns sought
Far afield are scatteréd,

Witless wanderers distraught,
Stricken dumb with awful dread.

Ten days past! ten portents told!
Lo!, from out the bursten tomb,
(Sight of horror to behold !)
Dead men’s skeletons do come.

Heaven upon the cowering world
Presseth with a stifling force ;

Stars from out their spheres are hurled ;
Flames through aéry spaces course,

All who here below remain
Living on the earth shall die,

With the dead to rise again
And be judgéd righteously.

Seventh twice-told the day doth rise,
Red with purifying flame,

With its blast doth melt the skies
And the earth’s dissolving frame.

Signs and wonders now are past;
Heaven and earth anew God makes.

Hark!, the angel’s trumpet-blast
From their sleep the dead awakes.”

“From Heaven above descending, see

The Lord in clouds of majesty,
To judge mankind, the quick, the dead,
In Josaphat’s vale gatheréd.

ADAM OF USK 293

For doom shall every life be told; A.D, 1406.
The wicked shall the Cross behold,

The Crown, the Lance, and Him beside,

The One they pierced and crucified.

No heart may then its secret veil,
Nor wealth nor power in aught avail;
God’s treasure shall the just possess,
And worldlings wail their wickedness.

What tongue may tell of heavenly bliss? p. 115.
What tongue, the pain of hell’s abyss ?

For saints God’s fount of honour flows ;

The damned are whelmed in endless woes.

So may each man with tears repent
And pray for God’s enlightenment,
Regardful of the Judge to be,

And in the evil day go free!

No words the sinner’s faults condone
Before that stern and righteous throne ;
Nor plea nor patron there may rise,
To aid us in the great assize.

Distinction then there shall not be
Of clergy and of laity;

No favour may that Just One show,
Who seeketh out the truth to know.

There none may allegation try,
Exception take, nor join reply ;
Appeal to Holy See is vain;

The sentence none may turn again,

No fee for bull or scribe, or for
Pope’s chamberlain or janitor ;
The wicked He delivereth

To torment’s ever-living death.

A.D. 1406,

p. 116.

294

THE CHRONICLE OF

A dread to all, I rise and speak :
Ye clergy, hearken, proud or meek ;
Secure, I fear not; lo!, my word

Shall smite you like keen-tempered sword.

To prelate and to cardinal,
To monk and nun shall woe befall,

To grudging priest, and clerk whose greed

Doth sell his soul for earthly meed.

The more their gain, more meagre they,
Like men to dropsy fall’n a prey,
Who drink and yet more thirsty grow ;
For rest may misers never know.

The unjust judge the right perverts, -
And breaks the laws himself asserts,
Of vengeance unaware ; for he,
Condemner, shall condemnéd be.

Man dies and moulders in the earth;
His avarice, what is it worth,

Vain, empty tumult of the mind ?.

The fool must leave his wealth behind.

His body in vile shroud lies lorn,

His soul to place of torment borne,
Where, writhing like wind-shaken reed,
For ransom it may never plead.

Ye judges, ponder what ye are!
What may you to the Lord declare?
Shall Codex or Digest suffice ?

For Christ judge, plaintiff, witness is.

Ye clerks, who softly feed and lie
On beds of down and tapestry ;
Beware, who now your pleasure take,
Confession grievous ye must make.

Ye

to = ~

pf cee es

ADAM OF USK 295

Ye richly feast, and bid the door
Be shut against the hungry poor;
They beg a dole in humble wise,
Yet naught ye give, save blasphemies.

Your flesh with flesh ye stuff and fill,
And hoarded wealth ye spend and spill;
Rare wines from goblets large ye drain,
And stretch your maw for food again.

‘In works of pity,’ saith the Lord,

‘All ye who wrought have gained reward ;
‘Who cared not for my poor, depart !
‘But ye who cared, be glad of heart!’

Now all is done. The damnéd lie
Rejected, ground in agony;

But honoured, comforted, the blest
Are called to their eternal rest.”

The aforesaid Lancaster king of arms, returning back
from England, made known to me, the writer of this
history, at Paris, that he had spoken with the king to
make my peace, but that both by reason of my commerce
with the said earl of Northumberland and of disparage-
ments written of me by my rivals from Rome, there was
no means of reconciliation with him, for that his indigna-
tion waxed stronger day by day. Wherefore, I, Adam, the
writer of this history, made a declaration before the same
king of arms that I would feign myself Owen’s man, and
with my following would cross over into Wales unto him ;
and thence, taking my chance, I would steal away from
him to my lord of Powis, to await under his care the king’s
favour. And so it came to pass. And this declaration
saved me my life. Snares were laid for me by sea; and
eight ships of Devon chased me for two livelong days, and
again and again I was hunted like a hare by so many
hounds.

But at last, through the prayers of Saint Thomas of

A.D, 1406,

Pp. LL7.

A.D, 1408.

A.D. 1408.

A.D. 1408
-1411.

p. 118.

A.D. 1411.

296 THE CHRONICLE OF

India, whom I beheld in a vision praying to God that he
would bless me, I escaped to the port of St. Pol de Leon in
Brittany ; and there in the chapel of Saint Theliau, where
too he slew a dragon one hundred and twenty feet in length,
committing myself to his care, I daily celebrated mass.

At length, taking my chance, I landed in Wales at the
port of Barmouth1, and there I hid in the hills and caves
and thickets, before that I could come unto my said lord of
Powis, because at that time he had taken to wife, in the
parts of Devon, the daughter of the earl of the same?;
sorely tormented with many and great perils of death and
capture and false brethren, and of hunger and thirst, and
passing many nights without sleep for fear of the attacks
of foes. Moreover, on behalf of the same Owen, when it
was found out that I had sent to my said lord for a safe-
conduct, I was laid under the close restraint of pledges.
But at last, when my lord had come again to his own
country, and when I had gotten from him letters of leave
to come unto him and to rest safe with him, I gat me by
night and in secret unto him at his castle of Pool; and
there and in the parish church of the same, not daring to
pass outside his domain, like a poor chaplain only getting
victuals for saying mass, shunned by thankless kin and
those who were once my friends, I led a life sorry enough
—and how sorry God in His heart doth know.

Meantime, while I there abode, among the other gentle-’
men of Owen’s party, three men of fame, to wit Philip
Scudamore of Troy, Rhys ap Griffith of Cardigan, and
Rhys ap Tudor of Anglesey, being taken by the captain of
the same castle, were drawn to the gallows and hanged ; the
first at Shrewsbury, whose head is still there set up beyond
bridge, the second at London, and the third at Chester.

1 The native name is Abermaw, the ‘“ Abermo” of the MS.

2 Powis’s second wife; not a daughter of the earl of Devon, but
Elizabeth, daughter of sir John Berkeley, of Beverstone, co. Glou-
cester.

ADAM OF USK 297

At length, at the instance of my said lord, and of David
Holbache, a man of high estate, I had the king’s grace by
his letters1; which too I got proclaimed at Shrewsbury.
And then I passed over thither on foot, to visit mine old
friends ; and I had of them horses twain and one hundred
shillings to my joy; and I hired me a servant; and, like
to one new-born, I began somewhat to fashion again my
condition as before mine exile. Then I gat me to mine own
country, among old friends and kinsmen, whom I had
advanced and had otherwise raised up in no small degree,
and among my debtors, hoping myself to be comforted ;
but I found them to be not only thankless, and hurling
reproaches to boot, but, for fear I should exact of them
anything of mine own, even seekers after my ruin. As
the proverb runs: not for myself but for what I had they
loved me, and so, when fortune fled, they deserted me. And
as the poet says: I begged a loan of my friend, and lost
friend and money too.

Thence into England, with trembling heart but with
a cheerful countenance, I passed, to visit my lords and
ancient friends; and I took count of benefices and goods
lost beyond recall. In parliament was I, along with other
doctors; and little by little, with the help of God, I
enlarged mine heart and my countenance and my spirit.

By my lord of Canterbury I was restored in his court at
Canterbury, and I was preferred to the good church of
Merstham; and, like another Job, I gathered to myself
servants, and books, and garments, and household goods,
wherefore blessed be God for ever and ever!

The wife of Owen?, together with his two daughters °

1 A pardon was issued to Adam on the 20th March, 1411 (Patent
Roll, 12 Hen. IV., m. 18). David Holbache (the MS. calls him Har-
lech), through whom it was obtained, sat in parliament for Shrews-
bury, and founded Oswestry Grammar School.—Wylie, Henry the
Fourth, ij. 413; iij. 268.

* Margaret, daughter of sir David Hanmer.

* One of them was Mortimer’s wife.

A.D. 1411.

p. 119.

A.D, 1409.

A.D, 1409.

A.D. 1418.

p. 120.

298 THE CHRONICLE OF

and three granddaughters, daughters of sir Edmund Mor-
timer !, and all household goods, was taken captive, and sent
to London unto the king; and Owen, with his only remain-
ing son Meredith, miserably lay in hiding in the open
country, and in caves, and in the thickets of the mountains.
To make all safe, and to curb fresh rebellions by means of
the king’s soldiers and at his costs, the glades and passes
of Snowdon and of other mountains and forests of North
Wales were held guarded.

Henry the fourth, after that he had reigned with power
for fourteen years, crushing those who rebelled against
him, fell sick, having been poisoned; from which cause
he had been tormented for five years by a rotting of the
flesh, by a drying up of the eyes, and by a rupture of
the intestines ; and at Westminster, in the abbot’s chamber,
within the sanctuary, thereby fulfilling his horoscope that
he should die in the Holy Land, in the year of our Lord
1412-13, and on the twentieth day of the month of March,
he brought his days to a close. And he was carried
away by water, and was buried at Canterbury*. That same
rotting did the anointing at his coronation portend; for
there ensued such a growth of lice, especially on his head,
that he neither. grew hair, nor could he have his head
uncovered for many months. One of the nobles, at the.
time of his making the offering in the coronation-mass, fell
from his hand to the ground; which then I with others
standing by sought for diligently, and, when found, it was
offered by him.

Henry the fifth, his first-born son by the daughter of the
earl of Hereford, a youth upright and filled with virtues
and wisdom, on the fourteenth day after his father’s death,

1 Mortimer's son, Lionel, was also taken. Owen’s family fell into
the hands of the English at the capture of Harlech, before February,
1409.—Wylie, Henry the Fourth, iij. 266.

2 The body was conveyed by water to Faversham, and thence to
Canterbury.

ADAM OF USK 299

Passion Sunday, to wit, then falling (9th April), was A.D. 1413.
crowned with great solemnity at Westminster.

On the same day an exceeding fierce and unwonted storm
fell upon the hill-country of the realm, and smothered men
and beasts and homesteads, and drowned out the valleys
and the marshes in marvellous wise, with losses and perils
to men beyond measure.

The new king made proclamation at the coronation-feast
of pardon to all offenders, even to those guilty of high
treason, provided that they should get them royal letters
thereto prepared this side the festival of Saint John Bap-
tist ; whence, for those same letters he got large sums of
money. And also in his parliament, then forthwith holden
at Westminster!, he levied on the clergy a tenth and on
the laity a fifteenth. Also, in granting confirmations of the
yearly stipends of certain persons, he reserved to himself
the profits of the first year. Whatsoever fees too are wont to
be levied when new reigns begin, he doubled. And against
the Welsh and the Irish he sent forth an edict, that each man |
should get him to his own country; and thereby from them, /
for leave to remain, he gathered to himself much treasure ”.

In these days, by virtue of a certain exemption of pope A.D. 1411.
Boniface the ninth, the university of Oxford with one
accord and with a strong hand withstood the visitation
of the metropolitan® ; whence arose grievous strifes, and
slaughter of men on both sides, because the gentry of the

? On the 15th May.

2 Henry agreed to enforce the statute of the last reign for the
expulsion of aliens, saving his prerogative of granting dispensations.

8 This was in the year 1411. Adam has made the worst of things.
Nobody was killed. The archbishop appealed to the king, who sum-
moned the chancellor and the proctors to London and required them
to resign. Ultimately, however, on the mediation of the prince of
Wales, they were allowed to retain their offices. The bull of pope
Boniface was revoked by John XXIII in November, 1411; the uni-
versity submitted; and the archbishop’s right of visitation was
solemnly asserted in parliament.—Rashdall, The Universities of Europe
in the Middle Ages, ij. 434.

A.D. 1411.

A.D. 1414,

p. 121.

A.D. 1418.

A.D. 1414.

300 THE CHRONICLE OF

country came upon them to the succour of the said lord
archbishop of Canterbury. But the same lord at that time
withdrew, doing naught; but he got such exemption
revoked by pope John the twenty-third, and constrained
the university to renounce it.

Solemn envoys from France on behalf of the king’s
marriage and the peace of the two realms bided with him at
their own costs for the space of two months, and at length,
when they departed, he sent back with them his own envoys?.

There were given to my lord the earl of March, and by
him to my lord the king, two children, who were born in
Wales, the male being of nine years and the female of
seven years only, together with their common offspring
which was being suckled by the mother, a great and
unheard-of cause of wonder.

Led by sir John Oldeastle, knight, who in right of his
wife was styled lord of Cobham, the Lollards by their
noisome doctrine, and in special by that touching the
sacrament of the altar, troubled the church and her faithful
sons and the realm. They waxing stronger day by day in
gathering multitudes, forbearance was withdrawn from them
in certain places, with difficulty and under threat of inter-
dict. The said sir John was condemned a heretic? by the
same lord of Canterbury and others his suffragans him
assisting, and was delivered over by him a prisoner in the
Tower of London. Escaping thence * by night beyond the
walls, and drawing unto him his followers by letters and by
messengers, he secretly stirred the realm.

On the eve of the Epiphany (5th January *), in order that
he might attack and destroy the king, the brave champion

' The negotiations with the duke of Burgundy are here referred to.
His envoys were in England from the 19th April to the 17th June,
1414. Henry appointed ambassadors to treat on the 31st May.

2 On the 10th October, 1413.

5 On the 19th October.

* This date is too early ; the gathering was planned for the night
of the 9th-10th of the month.

ADAM OF USK 301

of the faith who was filled with most Christian zeal, and all
prelates and churches, he appointed the field called Fyket-
tysfeld! for a gathering-place by night for him and his
wicked confederates. But the field being occupied on that
night with armed men by the king, who had cognizance
thereof, they were taken captive in great numbers when
they came thither, and were drawn, hanged, and burnt’.
And among them sir Roger Acton, a knight of Shropshire,
still for the space of a month was swinging on the gibbet*.
Many who were condemned or were to be condemned were
held prisoners in the Tower of London and elsewhere
through the realm. This knight, the son of a tiler, sprung
from a lowly family of Shropshire, being enriched with the
plunder and spoils of the Welsh war, and being puffed up
beyond measure, got himself honoured with the privilege of
the military order and with the belt of knighthood by king
Henry the fourth, and invested with the golden spurs by
the king’s two sons, the first-born who is now king, and the
second-born now duke of Clarence. Yet afterwards, he
blushed not to lift up his heel against them, thankless as
he was.

On the nineteenth day of the month of February, in the
year of our Lord 1413-14, my most illustrious lord, kins-
man of our lord the king and of his brothers, as also of the
earls of March, Arundel, Nottingham, and Stafford, as well
as of Bergavenny and Spencer, and son of the earl of
Arundel, deceased, the lord Thomas of Arundel, archbishop
of Canterbury, primate of all England and legate of the see
apostolic—the virtue, the lamp, the wisdom of the people,
the torch and delight of the clergy, and staunch pillar of
the church of the Christian faith, who gave me the good

1 Or Little Lincoln’s Fields.

2 Sixty-nine were condemned; of whom thirty-seven were hanged,
and of these seven were also burnt.—Ramsay, Lancaster and York,
i. 180.

5 He was executed on the 12th February.

A.D, 1414.

p. 122.

A.D. 1414,

302 THE CHRONICLE OF

churches of Kempsing in Kent and Merstham in Surrey,
together with the prebend of Llandogo in Wales, and
through whom I was hoping for promotion to greater
things, even as he had promised,—suffering a sudden
change! by the fate whereby all things sink to their
setting, brought his days to an end, alas!, long time before
I would have wished it, receiving with the joy of ever-
lasting life that word of sweetness of the King of Heaven :
“Good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy
Lord.” ? And this ending of his life I beheld in a vision on
that same night in London, in this wise: It seemed that he,
leaving all his household and clad in short garments, as
though about to journey afar, was running with great speed
alone; and when I strove with utmost toil to follow him,
he handed to me a waxen candle, saying: “Cut this in
twain betwixt us two”; and so he vanished from my
sight. And awaking I understood that henceforth we were
divided, and for his soul in all sorrow I said a mass; and
afterwards I was certified of his death. He, at the time of
his decease, was celebrating, with all the clergy of his
province, none being excused for any reason or spared if
able to work, a most solemn convocation, in the church
of St. Paul, on behalf of the faith in which we stand 3.
Wherein, being a most powerful champion, he passed
many good ordinances against the Lollards and heretics ;
and among others, with consent of the king, this one: that
any one guilty of heresy should lose his goods, both move-
able and immoveable, and also on this account should be
convicted of high treason, so that, besides the punishment
of fire which is the penalty of heresy, he should be further
punished by being drawn and hanged on the gibbet.

1 He died unexpectedly of some affection of the throat.

2 Matt. xxv. 21.

5 Wake (State of the Church and Clergy of England, 350) mentions
a@ convocation held 20th November, and an ecclesiastical council
against the Lollards. !

ADAM OF USK 303

Further, that inquisitions and enquiries on this behalf a.D. 1414.
should be holden throughout the shires by the king’s
justices!, These ordinances he got well brought into action p. 123.
before his death. The same convocation was resumed at
Oxford, the very hatching-place of heresy ; and, while it
was still being holden, he died, as told above.

Brother John Burghill, a covetous man, of the order of
preachers, bishop of Lichfield*, to his scandalous report
throughout the realm, hid away a great sum of gold in
a hole in his chamber ; and, by reason that the hole was
open at the other end, a pair of jackdaws, (birds which are
rightly called monedule from moneta,) which were minded
to build their nest therein, cleared out the hole and
scattered the gold among the trees and over the garden,
to the profit of many. And this story I heard to my
delight one day told at the table of my said lord by certain
guests, great men of the realm.

To the see of Canterbury was translated master Henry
Chicheley, doctor of laws, then bishop of St. Davids *; in
whose place was chosen master John Catterick to be
bishop of St. Davids. To the same lord of Canterbury,
when I departed from Oxford, I surrendered my civil chair.
At length, within half a year thenceforth, he [master John
Catterick] was chosen in succession to the said brother
John Burghill departing this life, and in his place Stephen
de Patryngton, of the order of Carmelites, was elected to
the see of St. Davids *.

The king held a parliament at Leicester °; wherein were

1 Adam is here anticipating. The statute against Lollardry which
he quotes was passed in the parliament of Leicester, after Arundel’s
death. But the archbishop no doubt had a hand in preparing the
enactment. .

2 Translated from Llandaff to Lichfield, 1398. Died 20th May, 1414.

8 Translated to Canterbury, 27th April, 1414.

* Catterick was translated from St. Davids to Lichfield, Ist Feb-
ruary, 1415.

5 From 30th April to 29th May, 1414.

A.D, 1414,

304 THE CHRONICLE OF

laid to the charge of prelates and clergy many transgres-
sions and extortions and shortcomings in appropriations of
wills, in misuse of hospitals and in regard of residence
of curates, and in other things. The redress of these
offences did the king give over to the convocation of the
clergy ; which being holden under the said archbishop of
Canterbury in the church of St. Paul in London, there was

' in many things redress ordained, especially in regard of

p. 124.

wills, to wit: that under one hundred shillings value
twelvepence be paid, and so up to twenty pounds;
and beyond that sum, up to one hundred pounds, ten
shillings; and so, up to one thousand pounds, for every
hundred pounds, ten shillings; provided that, in whatever
sum the value of the will should stand, the ordinary
should not receive more than twenty pounds for all his
pains. In this convocation were granted by the clergy,
two tenths (although against custom, for the laity were
wont to make grants first), before the grant of a fifteenth of
temporal goods.

Now, at the cost of the clergy, to attend the general
council of Constance, which was to be holden at the cost
of the realm and especially at the cost of the clergy, for
the redress of the said excesses and of the union of
Christendom, were sent as solemn envoys the bishops
of Bath and of Salisbury and of St. Davids, and the
abbot of Westminster and the prior of Worcester, and
the earl of Warwick, the lords Fitz-Hugh and Zouche,
and also the knights sir Walter Hungerford and sir Ralph
Rocheford ?.

1 The envoys were Nicholas Bubbewith, bishop of Bath and Wells,
Robert Hallum, bishop of Salisbury, John Catterick, bishop of St.
Davids, Richard Beauchamp, earl of Warwick, William de Colchester,
abbot of Westminster, Henry, baron Fitz-Hugh, John de Malvern, prior
of Worcester, sir Walter Hungerford, and sir Ralph Rocheford. Their
appointment was dated 20th October, 1414.—Rymer, Federa, ix. 167.
William la Zouche, baron Zouche, of Harryngworth, was lieutenant of

ADAM OF USK 305

In these days the Scots attacked the northern parts of
England with no light hand.

The church of London, setting aside its own use which
agreed not with others, took unto itself into daily use the
offices of Salisbury, beginning on the first Sunday in
Advent.

In this parliament}, the king granted general pardon to
all who should sue out letters to this end before the
feast of Saint Michael*. It was also decreed that chaplains
having stipends, if they held cures, should receive eight
marks ; otherwise seven marks only*. And, as otherwise
on sacks of wool, now on bales of cloth a tribute was
levied. On the eve of the Conception of the Blessed
Virgin (7th December) the parliament was dissolved.

In this the second year of his reign, the king began to
found near to Shene upon the bank of the Thames, three
houses of religion, to wit one of the Carthusian order, the
second of the order of Saint Bridget, and the third of
the order of Saint Celestine, endowing them out of the
possessions of the monks of France The priories of
Goldcliff and of Neath, otherwise French houses, are now
in poverty ¢.

The king sent far and wide throughout his realm certain
Calais, and was one of the envoys to the duke of Burgundy, 14th
July, 1413.

1 The parliament of the 19th November.

2 Perhaps Adam makes this statement (which appears to have no
foundation) in connection with the number of private petitions in this
parliament.

8 “Le roi voet ge nulles chapeleins annuelers preignent desore en
avaunt pluis pur lour entier salarie par l’an, c’est assavoir, pur ses
table, vesture, et autres necessaries, forsque vij. marcz, ne les chape-
leins parochiels, qi sont retenuz a servir cures, ne preignent pur lour
entier salarie annuell, c’est assavoir, pur ses choses avaunt ditz, sinon
viij. marcz.”—Rot. Parl, iv. 52.

* Henry V. founded the house of Jesus of Bethlehem at West Shene
(Richmond) for Carthusians; and the house of Mount Sion, or Sion
House, at Twickenham, of the order of Saint Bridget. The third
foundation, to which Adam refers, may be the hermitage which was

x

A.D. 1414.

306 THE CHRONICLE OF

A.D. 1414, trusty men in his service to visit each man of substance >
and to borrow money for him.

The king, in order to demand of the king of France the
lands of his birthright which lay in that kingdom, as also

p.125. his daughter in marriage for the maintenance of peace, sent
forth solemn envoys into France, to wit, the bishops of
Durham and of Norwich, and the earl of Dorset and the
lord Scrope?. But they came back thence into England, as
it were a laughing-stock, and without accomplishing aught.
Wherefore the king and the great men of the realm, being
wroth, turned the arms of their indignation against the
French, as appears hereafter.

A.D. 1415. Monstrous perjury! Our pope John the twenty-third,
false to his promises of union, other two, to wit Gregory and |
Benedict, being popes along with him (an unnatural thing), \
for that he was rebellious, and was otherwise guilty of
perjuries, and murders, and adulteries, and simonies, and,
heresy, and other excesses, and for that he twice fled in |
secret and cowardly in vile raiment by way of disguise, by
the said council was delivered to perpetual imprisonment”. ,

On the sixteenth day of the month of June’, in the

A

within the monastery of Shene (Monasticon Anglic., vj. 29). Walsing- +
ham mentions the three foundations (ij. 300). Goldcliff was an y
alien Benedictine priory in Monmouthshire, given by Robert de i
Chandos, in 11138, to the abbey of Bec, in Normandy. The abbey of a
Neath in Glamorganshire was given to the Cistercians of Savigny, hi
near Lyons, by Richard de Grainville and Constance, his wife, temp. 2
Henry I. .

1 The envoys were Thomas Langley, bishop of Durham, Richard iD
Courtenay, bishop of Norwich, Thomas Beaufort, earl of Dorset, and K}
Richard de Grey, baron Grey of Codnor; 5th December, 1414.—Rymer, 1
Fed. ix. 183. Scrope was employed elsewhere.

2 The pope succeeded in escaping from Constance on the 20th
March, 1415, disguised as a groom, and evaded his pursuers for some
time. He was deposed by the council of Constance on the 29th May.
He was delivered into the care of duke Louis of Bavaria, who kept
him in easy confinement at Heidelberg and Mannheim, and finally |
set him at liberty fora ransom. He died cardinal of Frascati, 1419. Ph

® Henry left London on the 18th June, for Southampton. :

ADAM OF USK 307

third year of his reign, king Henry the fifth, after that he
had first visited holy places with all devotion, set forth
from London, in glorious chivalry, towards France, to
subdue it in war, passing on his way to the sea-coast at
Portsmouth. And there the envoys of the king of France
coming to him and pretending to sue for peace’ bought
for a great sum of gold, from certain his councillors, to wit,
Richard, earl of Cambridge, the brother of the duke of
York, and also the lords Scrope and Grey ?, consent to his
death, or at least a hindrance of his voyage. But they,
being discovered by the earl of March, deservedly found
a death worthy of such treason. And there came solemn
envoys from the king of Aragon offering his daughter to
wife to our king; in company with whom he sent over his
own envoys thence ®.

Then making fair sail* he ploughed through the sea, and
on the thirteenth day of August he landed on the coast of
Normandy, near to Harfleur, with his host, according to
his desire. And pitching his camp he attacked the place,
and he tormented its area with underground mines, and
shook the city and the walls with his engines and cannons;
and in the end he won the surrender, along with the
[inhabitants all stripped and having cords and halters about
their necks, And all the goods of the place. | And presently
he drove out the native inhabitants and placed therein his
own Englishmen; and he chose the earl of Dorset to be
captain®. Many perished in the siege by a flux of the

1 The archbishop of Bourges and the bishop of Lisieux, who met
Henry at Winchester on the 30th June, and departed on the 6th
July.

2 Richard Plantagenet, of Conisburgh, created earl of Cambridge,
1st May, 1414; Henry, baron Scrope, of Masham; and sir Thomas
Grey, of Heton. Grey was executed forthwith ; Cambridge and Scrope,
after condemnation by their peers, on the 5th August.

8 Commissions were issued to John Waterton and John Kemp to
treat for the alliance and marriage, 25th July.—Feed. ix. 293-4.

* On Sunday, the 11th August.

5 Harfleur surrendered on the 22nd September. ‘The inhabitants

xX 2

A.D. 1415.

p. 126.

A.D. 1415.

308 THE CHRONICLE OF

bowels, among whom were the bishop of Norwich, and
the earls of Arundel and Suffolk’. Likewise thousands
departed to their homes; some honourably, because they
had leave; some discharged, because they were sick; and
some with disgrace, because they deserted the field, to the
indignation of the king 2.

The king, committing himself to God and to the fortune
of the sword, brave and like a very lion, with scarce ten
thousand warriors at his back °, with caution led the march
through the open country, yea, through the midst of France,
for the bridges were broken down, towards Calais, to abide
there. And against him came his adversaries of France,
to the number of sixty thousand of the nobles and men of
rank *, nigh Agincourt in Picardy. Battle was joined, and,
blessed be God !, the victory fell to our king, on whose side
only seven and twenty were slain, among whom the men of
noble birth who died were the duke of York, and the young
earl of Suffolk, sir [Richard] Kyghley and sir [John]

were taken under the king’s protection, and divided into three classes :
(1) those who were good for ransom; (2) the able-bodied, who might
be allowed to stay on taking an oath of allegiance ; (3) the weak and
infirm, who would be out of place in a frontier stronghold. The last
were forthwith marched out under escort, with just as much as they
could carry in their hands; and so turned over to the care of their
countrymen at Lillebonne (24th September).”—Ramsay, Lancaster
and York, i. 204. Dorset was left with a garrison of 300 lances and
900 bows.—Ibid. 205.

1 Richard Courtenay, bishop of Norwich, died on the 15th Septem-
ber; Michael de la Pole, earl of Suffolk, also died during the siege,
18th September; Thomas Fitzalan, earl of Arundel, after the surren-
der, on the 18th October.

2 The losses by sickness and desertion are estimated to have been
about one-third of the whole force.

8 Henry marched from Harfleur on the 8th or 9th October. The
number of the English who fought at Agincourt has been placed at
900 to 1,000 men-at-arms, and 3,000, or, according to some writers,
5,000, archers.—Lanc. and York, i. 205.

* The French were perhaps about four times as numerous as the
English.

ADAM OF USK 309

Skidmore, knights, and David Gam, of Breconshire’. On
the side of the French, who were slain or captured or put
to flight, and who brought with them their treasure and,
although to their own confusion, the king’s baggage train,
the dukes of Orleans and Bourbon and six counts were
made prisoners; and three dukes, six counts, three and
twenty barons, ninety lords, and fourteen hundred gen-
tlemen who bore coat armour, and seven thousand of the
commons fell on the field?

On the fourth day of November, under my lord John,
duke of Bedford, the king’s second brother, and in his
absence his lieutenant, began at London a solemn parlia-
ment *, to provide supplies to the king both of men and
money ; wherein it was agreed by the commons that the
full fifteenth, which had been granted, as above, to be paid
at the feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin next
coming (2nd February), should be levied forthwith to the
king’s use before the feast of Saint Lucy the virgin
(13th December). There was likewise granted another
fifteenth for the year next following, to be paid on the feast
of Saint Martin (11th November). To the king also, for the
term of his life: as to merchandise on wool-sacks four
marks, and on wine-tuns three shillings, and on other goods,
each and every, poundage of twelvepence; and rightly,
for it was in honour of his deeds of valour.

In the king’s praise it was thus that a certain verse-
maker wrote :—

1 Edward, son of Edmund of Langley, succeeded his father as duke
of York in 1402. Michael de la Pole, earl of Suffolk, had just suc-
ceeded his father, Michael, who had died before Harfleur. The name
of sir John Skidmore does not appear in other lists of the slain. The
number varies in the works of English contemporary writers, the
highest estimate being about one hundred. French writers raise the
number to 1,600.—Nicolas, Hist. Batt. Agincourt, 135.

2 Perhaps these figures may be fairly correct. The chroniclers
generally make them range from 3,000 or 4,000 to 11,000 or 12,000.

® It sat from the 4th to the 12th November.

A.D. 1415.

p. 127.

A.D, 14165.

p. 128.

310 THE CHRONICLE OF

“Now, all ye toiling English, rest and pray ;

Fair fell the victory on Crispin’s day,

When France’s envious power sank prone to earth:

France, who derided England’s native worth.

O hateful foe, that scornéd worth was vowed

To humble thee; it planted courage proud

In our king’s heart; in thine was slothfulness.

This gift is Heaven’s; Christ's name we praise and
bless.

Thrust back is guile; gone, superstitious craft ;

Minds sullen sink, drenched with a bitter draught.”

On the feast of Saint Brice (18th November) the parlia-
ment was dissolved.

On the nineteenth day of the month of November next
following, in the church of St. Paul, in London, under
master Henry Chicheley, archbishop of Canterbury, a con-
vocation of the clergy was holden in aid of the king’s
needs, for that he was deprived of his substance by the
enemy. Wherein, notwithstanding that a whole tenth
remained to be levied on the feast of the Purification
(2nd February) next coming, as aforetold, other two tenths
were granted to the king to be levied, at the two next
feasts of Saint Martin in the winter (11th November),
on benefices not yet taxed, which should reach to the
annual value of ten pounds and upwards, the same to be
valued by the ordinary. But from this grant the impor-
tunity of the writer of this history got relief for the
benefices of Wales, as being impoverished by war. To the
envoys likewise of the clergy, then present at the general
council at Constance on behalf of the union of the church,
there was granted an aid for their costs.

Saint George’s day (28rd April), at the instance of the
king, was prolonged into a double festival for a holiday
from toil.

On the twenty-third day of the month of November, in

ADAM OF USK 311

the year of our Lord 1415, the king coming from Calais to
London, bringing his captives, was met one mile without
the city by the clergy in procession, and at four miles, in
the place called Blackheath, by the noblemen and citizens
on horseback, to the number of ten thousand, clad in red,
with hoods party black and white, exulting in heart.
At the entrance of London bridge was an armed giant,
like to a second Pallas, outtopping the walls in height,
having a spear even like to the spear of Turnus (whereby
the same Pallas perished, pierced through full four feet and
a half: concerning whom see above’, book vj., chapter xxj.
at the end) and a mighty axe, by the very wind of which
not only might woods be laid low, but even an army
might be slain; and by his side was his wife, so huge that
not only was she fit in truth to give birth to giant devils,
but even to bring forth towers of hell—and they were set
beyond the gate, as warders thereof, together with the
king’s arms. In the midst of the bridge, in front of the
drawbridge, were two outworks, in one of which on the
right hand was a lion bearing a lance, and in the other an
antelope having a shield of the arms of the king hung
about his neck, and beyond the bridge was a figure of
Saint George armed becomingly—and these were placed to
guard the bridge. Conduits, richly decked and running
with wine, gave good cheer to all who would drink. At
the cross in the midst of Cheap, from one side to the other,
abutting on the church of St. Peter *, was placed a triple
building, rising in steps, with a wonderful show of battle-
ments and with turrets and bulwarks, and set about with
shields of arms of the realm and of the princes thereof;
1 Adam refers to Higden’s “ Polychronicon,” to which his chronicle
was added as a supplement. The passage is as follows: “ Hujus etiam
imperatoris [Henrici] diebus repertum est Rome illud incorruptum
Pallantis corpus, cum hiatu vulneris quatuor pedum et semis. Corpus
ejus altitudinem muri vincebat.”—Polychron. (Rolls series), vij. 148.

2 The parish church of St. Peter the Apostle, or St. Peter in Cheap,
which stood by the cross, at the corner of Wood Street.

A.D, 1415.

312 THE CHRONICLE OF

A.D. 1415, and it was made up of planks by the cunning of carpenters
and painters, and draped with stout canvas painted in the !
resemblance of walls of varied porphyry and marble and |

;

ivory, whereon was written, “Glorious things are spoken

of thee, O city of God”; and it was filled in suitable wise
with angels and with singers and with instruments of :
p.129. music. And from its iron gates there issued forth six
stately citizens, bearing two golden bowls filled with gold,
which were offered unto the king. And after the manner 4
of those who welcomed king David when he had slain .
Goliath, there met the king, hard by the lower conduit,
maidens dancing and singing, with choirs and drums and
{ golden viols. In a word: the city was decked in all the
} raiment of gladness, and rightfully there was great joy
\ among the people’. ,
The king, dismounting at St. Paul’s, visited the holy :
cross, and the tomb of Saint Erkenwald’, and the high altar, ‘
with much reverence and giving of alms; and thence he
departed towards Westminster, there to dine; and on the
morrow he caused a solemn funeral service, on behalf of at

1 Ps, lxxxvij. 3.

2 Compare the account of the pageants given in the Gesta Henrici
Quinti (by the king’s chaplain, now identified as Elmham), ed.
B. Williams (English Historical Society), 1850; and also that in
Elmham’s “ Liber Metricus” in Memorials of Henry the Fifth (Rolls
series), ed. C, A. Cole, 1858, The six stately citizens with their bowls
of gold, issuing from the gates of the castle in Cheap, do not appear I
in the other accounts. Perhaps Adam has created them out of the i
deputation from the city to make an offering to the king: “And on
the morwe after, it was Soneday and the xxiiij day of November, the
maire and alle the aldermen, with two hundred of the beste comoners
of London, wente to Westminster to the king and present hym with
a ml. pound in too basynes of gold worth v°. li."—Chronicle of
London (ed. Nicolas), 1827, p. 103.

3 “Monuments in this Church [St. Paul’s] be these: First, as i
I reade, of Erkenwalde, Bishop of London, buried in the old Church, 'f)
about the yeere of Christ, 700, whose body was translated into the new
work in the yeere 1140, being richly shrined above the Quire, behinde
the high Altar.”—Stow, Survey of London, 1633, p. 358,

ADAM OF USK 313

those who had fallen on either side in the war, to be
celebrated by bishops and clergy at St. Paul’s.

The aforetold capture of Harfleur and the victory of the
battle of Agincourt are put shortly in this verse :—

“ Harfleur Maurice hath fordone ;
Agincourt hath Crispin won.’ ?!

And the date of the year of our Lord 1415 is found in the
same verse, thus: M. once, C. thrice, L. twice, V. twice,
and I. five times, added together*®. The festivals of the two
saints brought with them those victories.

Died Owen Glendower, after that during four years he
had lain hidden from the face of the king and the realm ;
and in the night season he was buried by his followers.
But his burial having been discovered by his adversaries,
he was laid in the grave a second time; and where his
body was bestowed may no man know *.

The king with great reverence went on foot in pilgrimage
from Shrewsbury to St. Winifred’s well in North Wales ‘+.

The earl of Dorset, captain of Harfleur, marching out
with five hundred men, slew of the French who assaulted him
to the number of two thousand, and took many captive ®.

1 The verse occurs in Elmham’s “ Liber Metricus.”

2 He means that these letters occur in the line as many times as he
has stated; and that, by giving them their value as Roman numerals
and adding them together, the result is 1415. This is also the
meaning of the gloss in the “ Liber Metricus,” viz. “Annus Domini
m.ccce.xv. per literas numerales.”

5 The exact date of Owen’s death is uncertain. On the 5th July,
1415, sirGilbert Talbot was commissioned to treat with him with a view
to his submission; and again, on the 24th February, 1416, to treat
with Owen's son, Meredith, for the same purpose (Fdera, ix. 283,
331). The latter commission, not being to treat with Owen direct,
seems to imply uncertainty of where he was to be found. The
traditional date of his death is the 20th September, 1415. See
Wylie, Henry the Fourth, iij. 270.

* Holywell St. Winifred, co. Flint. This pilgrimage of Henry V.
does not appear to be recorded elsewhere. If Adam is correct in his
statement, it probably took place early in 1416.

5 Dorset, being pressed for supplies, set out on a plundering raid,

A.D, 1415.

A.D. 1416.

A.D. 1416.

p. 130.

314 THE CHRONICLE OF

On the third day of March! was holden a parliament at
Westminster, and in the church of St. Paul a convocation,
wherein by clergy and people were granted in aid to the
king two tenths and two fifteenths ”.

Sigismund, king of Hungary and of the Romans, after
that he had striven for a year long in the general council
at Constance for the unity of the church, and had delivered

to prison pope John the twenty-third, who ruled in Rome,#!
on account of his falsehoods, and after that he had visited)

the kings of Castille and of all Spain on behalf of the
same unity, came through the realm of France into England
for the stablishing of peace between those two kingdoms *.
But, after that he had abode in London at the great cost of
the realm, the business being thwarted by the cunning of
the French, he returned again to the council of Constance.

A dreadful battle at sea was fought under the duke of
Bedford, the king’s brother, against the French, of whom
many were brought captive with their ships into England,
but their store of victuals was sent into Harfleur +.

The king of the Romans aforesaid, departing from
England, with his own hands sent forth scrolls, to be
scattered abroad in the public places, whereof the wording
was on this wise :—

“QO happy England!, fare thee well, and be
Rejoiced and blest in glorious victory!

but was intercepted by the French, and only fought his way back to
Harfleur with difficulty; 11th-18th March, 1416.

1 Parliament met on the 16th March.

? It was only an acceleration of the tenth and fifteenth, granted in
the parliament of the 12th November, 1415, that was now agreed to.
Convocation, held at St. Paul’s in November-December, 1416, granted
two tenths.—Wake, State of the Church, 352.

5 Sigismund of Luxemburg, king of Hungary, 1386 ; emperor, 1410;
died 1487. He landed in England on the 1st May, and departed on
the 24th August, 1416. He was made a knight of the Garter.

* The French fleet was investing Harfleur. The battle was fought
in the Seine on the 15th August.

ADAM OF USK 315

The Christ thou dost adore in hymns of praise,
And to angelic state thy nature raise.

Then how may I, departing hence, exceed

In lauding thee? Praise justly is thy meed.” 1

There also came into England, for the stablishing of the
said peace, the duke of Holland’, who also, the business

1 The Latin verses occur in Elmham’s “ Liber Metricus,” ll. 925-7;
and also in the Gesta Henrici Quinti, p. 98. They are quoted by
Capgrave, De illustribus Henricis (Rolls series), ed. Hingeston, 120;
and are translated in his Chronicle of England (Rolls series), 314 :—
“Sone aftir that the emperoure went oute of Ynglond, and in his
goyng he mad his servauntis for to throwe billis in the wey, in whech
was writyn swech sentens :—

‘Farewel, with glorious victory,
Blessid Inglond, ful of melody.

Thou may be cleped of angel nature,
Thou servist God with so bysy cure.
We leve with the this praising,
Whech we schal evir sey and sing.’”

In an interesting letter, 2nd February, 1417, written to the king,
in English, by John Forester, present at the council of Constance, the
return of Sigismund to Constance is described, and his friendly feeling
towards England expressed: ‘“‘ Lykyth now to wyte that the Wod-
nesday, the thyrde our efter noon, other ner therby, the sevene and
twenty day of Januer, jour broder, Gracious Pryns, the kyng of
Rome, entride the cite of Constaunce wyth 3our lyvere of the coler
abowte his necke (a glad syghte to alle 3our lyge men to se) wyth
a solempne procession of all estayts... and he resseyvede 3our
lordes graciously wyth reyght god cher, and of alle the worschypful
men of 3our nation he touchyde thar handys only in alle the grete
prees. ... And onde the morwe... he made a colation to our
nation ... and he rehersede ther how the bretherred bygan wyth
hym and my Lord jour Fader, and how hyt is now so continuid and
knyt for 3ow and 3owr successoures, wyth the grace of God, for ever;
and he tolde thame so gret worschyp of 3owr Ryal Person, and sythyn
of alle my Lordis 3our brethers, and thenne of the governaunce of
holy kyrk, dyvyn servise, operaments, and alle stat ther of kepyd, as
yoff hit wer in paradys, in comparison to ony place that he evere
came inne to for; so that, fro the heyeste unto the loweste, he
commendit jour glorious and gracious Persone, 3our reme, and 3our
gode governance.” —Federa, ix. 484-5.

2 William of Bavaria, count of Holland, landed in England about
the 26th May and departed on the 2lst June. Next year he had

A.D. 1416,

A.D. 1416.

A.D. 1417.

p. 181.

316 THE CHRONICLE OF

unaccomplished, soon afterwards was subtly poisoned and
thus perished. eS

In the year next following, that is, in the year of ou
Lord 1417, a parliament and convocation were holden in
London; wherein the clergy and people were taxed by a
levy of two tenths and as many fifteenths?. .

At last, the council having met in the month of May at
Reading’, there went out a decree from Ceesar that all the
world of men with money should be set down by name;
and so being summoned they emptied their coffers.

Then the lord our king turned his course with a mighty
host against Normandy, to subdue it; the Irish first of all
being forbidden the realm*, And in his passage he broke
up the French fleet which threatened him; and yet the
army lay on the sea-coast, awaiting a fair wind, and dis-
tressed the country-side in no small degree by levy of
supplies *.

The Scots who had gathered together in a multitude
under the duke of Albany, their king, who before had been
taken captive on the seas, being still a prisoner in England,
were put to flight ® *

a quarrel with Sigismund, who had demanded a subsidy from the
Frisians, which William forbade. His sudden death on the 31st May,
1417, was, according to the usual practice of the time, attributed to
poison.

1 Parliament met on the 16th November, 1417, and granted two
tenths and two fifteenths. Convocation of Canterbury gave two
tenths ; that of York, one tenth.

2 Henry was at Reading on the 10th and 11th May.—Federa,
ix, 453.

3 This seems to be a distorted account of the recall to Ireland of
Irish then in England, 26th Feb., 1417.—Proc. and Ord. Privy Council,
ij. 219.

4 At the end of June the earl of Huntingdon was sent with
a squadron to clear the Channel. He fell in with a squadron of nine
Genoese carracks, and after a severe struggle captured four of them
and dispersed the rest. Henry embarked at Portsmouth on the 23rd
July ; but a week passed before he landed in Normandy.

5 In October, 1417, the Scots, under the duke of Albany, laid siege

ADAM OF USK 317

The king landing in Normandy? at Caen, where William A.D. 1417.
the conqueror lies buried, subdued the land as far as the
south bank of the river Seine, taking two and thirty cities,
castles, towns, and fortalices. But at the siege of Falaise 2,
by the carelessness of the lord Talbot, he lost more than
five hundred men who were slain by the captain of Cher- ,
bourg®, The booty taken in Normandy was put up to, , @
sale in every quarter of England. ye

Sir John Oldcastle, the heretic, renouncing the sacra-
ment of the altar, the Blessed Virgin, and confession, and
eager to pervert the king and the kingdom, after a long
exile in Powis, was captured by the lord of that country,
who had great reward; and in the parliament and con-
vocation, wherein also two tenths and two fifteenths were
granted in aid to the king, he was presented ; and on the
fourteenth day of December he was hung on the gallows
in a chain of iron, after that he had been drawn, and once
and for all was burnt up with fierce fire there bestowed,
paying justly the penalty of both swords‘.

After the schism of thirty years’ duration, which dis-
tracted Christendom, there being sometimes four, sometimes
three, sometimes two popes sitting, Otto di Colonna,
a noble of Rome and a Ghibelline, cardinal deacon of the
title of Saint George in the Velabrum, was by all the
cardinals and proctors of the several nations, with one

to Berwick; but were driven off by the earl of Northumberland. The
earl of Douglas also attempted Roxburgh.

? At Touques, on the Ist August. Caen was besieged and carried by
assault on the 4th September.

2 Falaise was besieged from the beginning of December, 1417, and
surrendered on the 2nd January, 1418.

3 Gilbert, baron Talbot, led a raid into the Cétentin; but on his
return he was attacked at the ford of St. Clement, at the mouth of
the river Vire, and barely escaped with the loss of nearly all his men.
See the Chronique de Normandie, printed at the end of the Gesta
Henrici Quinti, p. 180.

“ He was brought before parliament on the 14th December, and |
was condemned and executed in St. Giles’s Fields on the same day.

318 THE CHRONICLE OF

A.D. 1417. accord and by miracle, the Holy Ghost moving them,
chosen for pope, on Saint Martin’s day (11th November) ;
and for that reason he was called Martin the fifth.

p. 132. In the same convocation last holden, spiritual patrons
were constrained, under Henry Chicheley, archbishop of
Canterbury, to promote graduates’; and he too then con-
secrated bishops master John Chaundeler, elect of Salisbury,
and master Edmund Lacy, elect of Hereford (and I was
sponsor there), after he had first confirmed them *.

The king*, with the manhood of the realm and with
warlike valour, returned again into Normandy; and on the

A.D. 1419. nineteenth day of January, after toilsome siege and many

{ assaults, he victoriously subdued the great city of Rouen,

x together with the country round about, the wretched French-

N men not daring to stand against him, and the citizens

* \redeeming their lives for fifty thousand pounds in gold *.
On which account in London were made solemn processions
of triumph through the city, with dancing, by clergy and
people, from the shrine of Saint Erkenwald to the shrine
of Saint Edward, not once only but each Wednesday and
Friday.

Likewise our lord the king, with the manhood of the
kingdom, in the glory of war bent his course against
France, to subdue it; and within the space of two years
he overcame it, with its cities and castles and strong places

A.D. 1420. whatsoever. He also made subject to his lordship the king

1 An ordinance was passed, 6th November, for the due promotion
of graduates, in order to encourage those who, for the advancement
of learning by constant study, had continued in the universities and
had grown old in academical life.—Goodwin, Hist. Hen. V., 171.

2 John Chaundeler, bishop of Salisbury, 1417-1426; and Edmund
Lacy, bishop of Hereford, 1417, translated to Exeter, 1420, died 1455.

3 The rest of Adam’s text consists rather of notes than consecutive
history. Here he repeats the invasion of France, and he does so again
in the next paragraph.

4 The siege of Rouen began on the 29th July, 1418, and lasted till
the 19th January, 1419. The ransom imposed was 300,000 French
crowns or £50,000.

ADAM OF USK 319

and queen of France and their daughter Katharine, to be
joined to him in marriage!, and the kingdom too, to come to
him after the death of the king, and all the magnates of the
realm. And therefore he subscribed his name in his letters
as heir and regent of France. And returning thence, with
the same lady his wife, into England for her coronation ,
he left his brother, the duke of Clarence, to be his lieutenant
in France. But a sickness of the flux delayed this busi-
ness, And a certain putative and so-called son of the king
of France, by name the Dauphin, and by the queen de-
clared false offspring, making a party for his rights, drew
unto himself the counts of Penthievre and Armagnac and
certain Scots, and on the eve of Easter, then falling on the
twenty-third day of March, in the year of our Lord
1420-1, with great slaughter he destroyed the said duke,
in a sudden onset, along with his company in their arms
and trappings, to wit, the earls of Suffolk and Somerset
and Huntingdon, the lords of Kyme and Tankerville, and
many other noblemen, to the sore grief of England*. This
slaughter the earl of Salisbury, who was appointed to
ward the land along with his comrades, has cruelly avenged
with fire and sword, and is still avenging it*. And, seeking

1 The treaty of Troyes was signed on the 21st May, 1420. Henry
and Katharine were immediately married in the cathedral of Troyes
on Trinity Sunday, 2nd June.

2 They landed at Dover on the 2nd February, 1421. Katharine was
crowned on the 23rd of the month.

5 The battle of Baugé, in Maine, took place on the 22nd March,
1421. The duke of Clarence precipitated the attack with his cavalry,
first driving in the Scottish outposts, but being then overwhelmed
by the main body before his infantry could come up. Adam blunders
in his list of the dead. The duke, John, baron de Roos, Gilbert de
Unmfreville, styled earl of Kyme, and John Grey of Heton, styled earl
of Tankerville, were slain. John Beaufort, earl of Somerset, John
Holland, earl of Huntingdon, and Walter, baron Fitz-Walter, were
taken prisoners.

* The earl of Salisbury, governor of Normandy, failed to relieve
Alengon, to which the French had at once laid siege; but he after-
wards advanced and harried the country up to Angers. See Salisbury’s
letter to the king, Federa, x. 131.

A.D, 1420.

A.D. 1421.

p. 183.

A.D. 1421.

320 ADAM OF USK

to avenge it yet more, our lord the king, rending every man
throughout the realm who had money, be he rich or poor’,
designs to return again into France in full strength”. But, ’
woe is me!, mighty men and treasure of the realm will be
most miserably fordone about this business. And in truth
the grievous taxation of the people to this end being un-
bearable, accompanied with murmurs and with smothered
curses among them from hatred of the burden, I pray
that my liege lord become not in the end a partaker,
together with Julius, with Asshur, with Alexander, with
Hector, with Cyrus, with Darius, with Maccabzeus, of the
sword of the wrath of the Lord! Thereon, reader, see the
decretal xxiij., question v., “ Remittuntur.” ®

1 See Federa, x. 96, and Proc. and Ord. Privy Council, ij. 280, for
documents respecting enforcement of loans.

2 Henry embarked for the last time for France on the 10th June,
1421. Adam therefore wrote the last words of his chronicle before
that date.

3 Decretum II., caus. xxiij., quest. v., cap. xlix. : Aliquando puniun-
tur peccata per populos divino jussu excitatos, beginning, ‘‘ Remittuntur '
peccata per Dei verbum.” Adam’s closing words of discontent are
very significant.°

INDEX

Aachen: Adam of Usk passes
through, 74, 242.

Abermo: see Barmouth.

Acciajuoli, Angelo, cardinal of Os-
tia: crowns Innocent VII., 90,
262.

Acqs, bishop of: see Du Bois,
Pierre.

Acton, sir Roger: executed for
joining in the Lollard rising,
121, 301; his base origin and
pride, ibid.

Adam of Usk: see Usk, Adam.

Agincourt, battle of: 126, 308, 309;
English and French losses, ibid. ;
verses on, 127, 129, 310, 313;
service in St. Paul’s for the slain,
129, 313.

Agnus Dei wafers: ceremony of
distribution, 98, 275; verses on,
ibid.

Aids: see Taxes,

Aiguebelle: Adam of Usk passes
through, 103, 104, 282, 283.

Albano: Adam of Usk passes
through, 99, 277.

Albany, Robert, duke of: defeated
by the English, 131, 316.

Albemarle, duke of: see Planta-
genet, Edward, earl of Rutland.

Alexander the great: anecdote of
him and Darius, 98, 274.

Amiens: Adam of Usk passes
through, 104, 283.

Ancona, Ludovico, marquis of:

NY

massacres Roman citizens, 99,
276.
Anglesey: Humphrey, duke of
Gloucester, dies there, 29, 180. |
Ann of Bohemia: negotiations for
her marriage, 8, 139; marries
Richard II., 3, 140; her death,
9, 150. $3
Aquitaine: the dauphin and his
brother made duke of, 56, 219;
invaded by the French, ibid.
Aquitaine, marshal of : the marshal
of Brittany so called, 85, 255.
Aragon: the daughter of the king
refused in marriage byRichardII.,
9, 151; arms of, used by Inno-
cent VII., 98, 100, 274, 278; em-
bassy to Henry V., 125,307.
Armagnac, Bernard, count of:
joins the dauphin, 132, 319.
Arras: Adam of Usk passes through,
104, 283.

Arthgallo, king of Britain: Richard
II. compared with him, 29, 180.
Arthur, king of Britain: festivals

in Germany in his honour, 106,
286.
Arundel, earls of:
See Fitzalan, Richard.
Fitzalan, Thomas.
Arundel, sir John: lost at sea, 8, 148.
Ashes: ceremony of, at Rome, 95,
271.

' Asti: Adam of Usk passes through,

103, 281.

322 INDEX

Babylon, soldan of: see Egypt.

Badges: of Henry Bolingbroke
and Richard II., 25, 173; statute
against their use, 39, 194.

Bagot, sir William: brought. pri-
soner from Ireland, 29, 180.

Bajazet I., sultan: defeated by Ta-
merlane, 62, 227.

Bangor, diocese of: a prebend
bestowed on Adam of Usk, 45,

206; adventures of a chaplain |

of, 102, 280.

Bardfield: lordship belonging to
the earl of March, 23, 169.

Bardolf, Thomas, baron: joins
Glendower and is defeated by
lord Powis, 104, 283,284; passes
over to France, 104, 284; to
Scotland, 105, 284; enticed into
England and defeated and slain,

- ibid.; at Bruges, 106, 287; por-
tent foretelling his fate, 107, 287,
288.

Barmouth, in Wales: Adam of Usk
lands there, 117, 296.

Basel : Adam of Usk passes through,
74, 242.

Bath, knights of the: creations by
Henry IV., 33, 187.

Bath and Wells, bishops of:

See Bowet, Henry.
Bubbewith, Nicholas.

Baugé: defeat and death of the
duke of Clarence at, 182, 319.

Bavaria, Louis of: see Louis of Ba-
varia.

Beauchamp, Margaret, countess of
Warwick: harshtreatment of, by
Richard II., 17, 36, 162, 190.

Beauchamp, Richard, earl of War-
wick: made a knight of the
Bath, 33, 187; attends the coun-
cil of Constance, 124, 304.

Beauchamp, Thomas, earl of War-

’ wick: takes part in the battle of
Radcot-bridge, 6,145; impeached,

13, 157; tried and imprisoned in
the isle of Man, 16, 17, 161, 162;
his son knighted, 33, 187; bears
a sword at Henry IV.’s corona-
tion, 34, 187; special pardon,
39, 194; his death, 61, 226.

Beauchamp, sir William, after-
wards baron Bergavenny: takes
Adam of Usk to see Richard II.
in the Tower, 30, 182; joins in
the suit of lord Grey, 58, 221; a
criminal set free and delivered
to him, 62, 227; riot of his vil-
leins, 63, 228. .

Beaufort, John, earl of Somerset:
impeaches the duke of Gloucester
and others, 13, 157; made mar-
quess of Dorset, 17, 162; bears a
sword at Henry IV.’s coronation,
34, 187; seizesgoodssent by Roger
Walden to Saltwood, 38, 192.

Beaufort, John, third earl of So-
merset: taken prisoner at the
battle of Baugé, 182, 319.

Beaufort, Thomas, earl of Dorset :
made captain of Harfleur, 126,
307 ; his fight with the French,
129, 313.

Beaune: Adam of Usk passes
through, 104, 283.

Bedford, duke of: see John, duke
of Bedford.

Bellinzona: Adam of Usk passes
through, 75, 242.

Benedict XIII., pope: embassy on

his behalf to Boniface IX., 88,

259; it is imprisoned, 88, 260;
reference to him, 125, 306.

Benediction: ceremony of,at Rome,
97, 273.

Bergavenny: riot of the villeins,
63, 228.

Bergavenny, baron: see Beauchamp,
sir William.

Bergen-op-Zoom: Adam of Usk
lands at, 74, 242. .

a 7 o-

INDEX

Berkeley, sir James: has the lord-
ship of Raglan confirmed to him,
40, 195.

Berkeley, Thomas, baron: one of
the deputation to receive
Richard II.’s surrender of the
crown, 31, 184.

Bern : Adam of Usk passes through,
74, 242.

Berners, sir John: executed, 6, 146.

Berwick, near Shrewsbury: battle
of Shrewsbury fought there, 83,
252 ; hospice founded there, ibid.

Billingsgate: Adam of Usk em-
barks at, 74, 242.

Blake, John: executed, 6, 146.

Blanche of Lancaster, daughter of
Henry IV. : negotiations and mar-
riage with Louis of Bavaria, 59,
85, 223, 256.

Blank charters: destruction of, 43,
203.

Bohemia, Ann of: see Ann of Bo-
hemia.

Bohemia, king of: see Wenceslaus,
king of Bohemia and emperor.
Bologna: taken by the duke of

Milan, 75, 244; revolt of, 76, 245.

Bologna, cardinal of: see Miglio-
rati, Cosimo dei.

Boniface IX., pope: receives Adam
of Usk, 75, 248; confirms the
election of the emperor Rupert,
76, 79-82, 245, 248-252; confers
benefices on Adam, 76, 77, 246;
wishes to appoint him bishop of
Hereford, 85, 256; amendment
of abuses of indulgences, etc.,
76, 245; receives an embassy
from the supporters of Bene-
dict XIII., 87, 259; his rage and
death, 88, 259 ; his simony, ibid. ;
dreams and vision about him,
88, 259, 260 ; his funeral, 89, 261.

Bonn: Adam of Usk passes through,
74, 242.

823

Borbach, John: one of the deputa-
tion to receive Richard II.’s sur-
render of the crown, 31, 184.

Borgo-San-Donnino: Adam of Usk
passes through, 75, 242.

Botsam, John: made bishop of
Rochester, 45, 205.

Botsam, William, bishop of Ro-
chester: dies, 45, 205.

Bourbon, John, duke of: taken
prisoner at Agincourt, 126, 309.
Bowet, Henry: proposed as bishop

of Bath and Wells, 64, 231.

Bowland, Robert: convicted of
immorality at Nuneaton, 57, 220.

Boxgrove priory: lady St. John
buried there, 55, 217.

Bramham moor: defeat of the earl
of Northumberland at, 105, 284.

Branding: baptism by, 93, 267.

Breisach: Adam of Usk passes
through, 74, 242.

Brembre, Nicholas, mayor of Lon-
don: executed, 6, 146.

Bridlington, John: his prophecies
quoted, 8, 24, 25, 149, 171, 172,
173.

Brie-Comte-Robert: Adam of Usk
passes through, 104, 283.

Bristol: favourable to Wycliffe, 3,
140; Richard II. lands there, 9,
151 ; Henry Bolingbroke marches
thither, 25, 174; executions at,
ibid.; lord Despencer beheaded,
43, 203 ; riot against taxes, 62,
228; expedition against South
Wales, 84, 255.

Britons: Greek princes [Waran-
gian guard] descended from, 97,
272.

Brittany: descent of Bretons on
the English coast, 85, 255.

Brittany, duchess-dowager of: see
Joan of Navarre.

Brittany, marshal of: see Rieux,
Jean, sire de.

Y2

324 INDEX

Brocas, sir Bernard: executed, 42,
198.

Bruges: Adam of Usk arrives there,
104, 283 ; the earl of Northumber-
land and lord Bardolf there, 106,
287; portent foretelling their
fate, 107, 287.

Brugg, Richard del, Lancaster king
of arms: warns Adam of Usk,
104, 283; meets Adam in Paris
and receives his declaration of
conduct, 117, 295.

Bubbewith, Nicholas, bishop of
Bath and Wells: attends the
council of Constance, 124, 304.

Buckingham: the archdeaconry
conferred by the pope on Adam
of Usk, 76, 246.

Builth: a stream there flows blood,
55, 218.

Burghill, John, bishop of Lich-
field: anecdote of his miserly
conduct, 123, 303; his death,
ibid.

Burgundy: Adam of Usk passes
through, 104, 283.

Burgundy, John the fearless, duke
of: murders the duke of Orleans,
105, 285; supported by the bishop
of Liége, ibid.

Burley, sir Simon: executed, 6,
146.

Burnell, Hugh, baron: one of the
deputation toreceive Richard II.’s
surrender of the crown, 31,
184,

Burton, William: monk of Chert-
sey, 46, 207.

Bushy, sir John: speaker of the
commons, 10, 153; impeaches
the duke of Gloucester and the
earl of Arundel, ibid.; and arch-
bishop Arundel, 12, 156; be-
headed at Bristol, 25, 174.

Byttervey, sir Walter: suit for
arms, 64, 229.

Caen: captured by Henry V., 131,
317.

Caerleon: lordship belonging to
the earl of March, 23, 169; the
castle ruined by Glendower, 78,
247.

Caermarthen: Richard II. flees
thither, 27, 177; Adam of Usk
appointed by the pope to the
archdeaconry, 77, 246.

Caernarvon: besieged by Glen-
dower, 71, 238.

Calais: marriage of Richard II.
with Isabella of France there,
9, 151; death of the duke of
Gloucester at, 15, 160; the duke
of Exeter made captain, 23, 171;
Isabella passes through, on her
return to France, 69, 236.

Cambridge, earl of: see Planta-
genet, Richard.

Campania: granted to the king of
Naples, 90, 262.

Candles: ceremony of, at Rome,
95, 271.

Canterbury, archbishops of:

See Chicheley, Henry.
Courtenay, William.
Fitzalan, Thomas.

Islip, Simon.
Sudbury, Simon.
Walden, Roger.

Canterbury, prior of: one of a de-
putation to receive Richard II.’s
surrender of the crown, 31, 184.

Cap and sword: ceremony of, at
Rome, 92, 266.

Cardiganshire: favourable to Glen-
dower, 70, 71, 237, 238, 239.

Carlisle, bishop of: see Merke,
Thomas.

‘Carrara: Adam of Usk passes

through, 75, 242.

Catherine of Lancaster, daughter of
John of Gaunt: married to the
prince of the Asturias, 7, 147.

INDEX

Catterick, John: elected bishop of
St. David’s, 123, 303; translated
to Lichfield, ibid.; attends the
council of Constance, 124, 304.

Cenis, mont: Adam of Usk passes
over, 103, 281.

Chaplains: regulation of their sti-
pends, 124, 305.

Charles of Valois, dauphin : defeats
the duke of Clarence at Baugé,
132, 319.

Charter-house: fasting monk of, 60,
225.

Chartreuse, grande: Adam of Usk
passes through, 104, 283.

Chaundler, John: consecrated
bishop of Salisbury, 132, 318.

Cherleton, sir Edward: joins Henry

. Bolingbroke, 25, 174; present at
Chester, 26, 175; imprisons the
seneschal of Usk castle, 62, 227;
becomes baron Cherleton and
lord of Powis, 70, 238; his second
marriage, 117, 296; protects
Adam of Usk, 118, 296 ; captures
sir John Oldcastle, 131, 317.

Cherleton, John, baron: his death,
70, 238.

Chertsey abbey: death of abbot
John Usk, 46, 207.

Chester, city of: Henry Boling-
broke enters, 27, 176; execution
of sir P. de Legh, 27, 177;
Richard II. a prisoner there, 28,
179; deputation of citizens of
London sent thither, ibid.

Chester, county of: troops raised
there by the earl of Oxford, 5,
144; the king’s guards drawn
from, 11, 23, 154, 169; their bad
character, 23, 169, 170; made a
duchy, 15, 160; Henry Boling-
broke marches thither, 26, 175;
it submits, ibid.; bad character of
the inhabitants, 26, 175, 176; given
to the prince of Wales, 37, 191.

325

Cheyne, sir John: speaker of the
commons, 36, 190.

Chicheley, Henry, bishop of St.
Davids: translated to Canter-
bury, 123, 303; holds convoca-
tion, 128, 127, 304, 310; enforces
promotion of graduates in the
church, 132, 318; consecrates
bishops, ibid.

Chichester, bishop of: see Rushook,
Thomas.

Chosroes, king of Persia: Richard II.
compared with, 43, 202.

Chronicles: quoted to prove Rich-
ard II.’s descent, 30, 31, 182-184.

Cinders: ceremony of, at Rome,
95, 271.

Cirencester: the earls of Salisbury
and Kent killed there, 42, 197.
Clare: lordship belonging to the

earl of March, 23, 169.

Clarence, dukes of:

See Lionel, duke of Clarence.
Thomas of Lancaster.

Clarendon, sir Roger: hanged, 84,
255.

Clergy : reforms, 123, 304; promo-
tion of graduates, 132, 318.

Clerk, William: executed for slan-
der, 58, 222.

Clermont: Adam of Usk passes
through, 104, 283.

Clifford, Richard: proposed as
bishop of Worcester, 64, 230,
ys)

Clyfford, James: leader of an ex-
pedition from Bristol against
South Wales, 84, 255.

Cobham, John, baron: impeached,
18, 163 ; banished to Jersey, 18,
164, :

Cobham, baron: see Oldcastle, sir
John.

Coblentz: Adam of Usk passes
through, 74, 242.

Coddington: Henry Bolingbroke’s

826 INDEX

- army encamps there, 26, 176;
the church sacked, ibid.

Colchester, William de, abbot of
Westminster: one of a deputa-
tion to receive Richard II.’s sur-

. render of the crown, 31, 184;

: attends the council of Constance,

. 124, 304. -

Cologne: Adam of Usk passes

. through, 74, 242,

Colonna, John of: his mockery of
papal ceremonies, 100, 277.

Colonna, Otto di: elected pope as
Martin V., 131, 317, 318.

Columba, saint: traditions of, 101,

. 102, 279.

Colvylle, sir John, of Dale: suit

_ for arms, 63, 229.

Comet: betokening the death of

- the duke of Milan, 75, 248.

Como: Adam of Usk passes through,
75, 242.

Conclave of the cardinals: de-
scribed, 89, 260.

Confederate lords: defeat the earl
of Oxford at Radcot-bridge, 6,
145; blockade the Tower, ibid.

Connaught: lordship belonging to
the earl of March, 23, 169.

Constance, council of: English en-
voys to, 124, 304; aid granted
to them, 127, 310; deposition
of pope John XXIII, 125, 306.

Constantine, emperor: descent of
Greek princes from his family,
97, 272.

Convocations of the clergy: 44, 58,
122, 123, 127, 129, 180, 181, 204,
221, 302, 303, 304, 310, 314, 316,
317.

Conway castle: negotiation for
Richard II.’s surrender at, 28, 178,
179; surprised by the brothers
Tudor, and retaken, 61, 226.

Cork: the earl of March dies there,
22, 168. |

Corneto: Adam of Usk passes
through, 99, 277.

Cornwall, duchy of: given to the
prince of Wales, 37, 191.

Coronation: of Henry IV., 33, 187;
of Innocent VIL, 90, 262; of
Henry V., 120, 299; of his queen
Katharine, 132, 319.

Cossa, Balthasar, cardinal of St.
Eustace, afterwards pope John
XXIII.: presents Adam of Usk
to the pope, 75, 243; subdues
Bologna, etc., 76, 245: see also
John XXIII., pope.

Courtenay, Richard, bishop of Nor-
wich: dies at the siege of Har-
fleur, 126, 308.

Courtenay, William, archbishop
of Canterbury: opposes taxation,
8, 150.

Courtrai, battle of: mock gospel
describing, 107-110.

Crambourn: lordship belonging to
the earl of March, 23, 169.

Darius: anecdote of him and Alex-
ander the great, 98, 274.

Dartmouth : riot against taxes, 62,
228. :

Dauphin, the : see Charles of Valois.

David ap Jevan Goz, envoy from
France to Scotland: captured,
71, 239.

Decretals: quoted, 44, 59, 133, 204,
223, 224, 320.

Delamere forest: sir P. de Legh
warden, 27, 177.

De la Moote, John, abbot of St.
Albans: accused by the earl of
Warwick, 16, 161.

De la Pole, Michael, first earl of
Suffolk: flees and dies abroad,
6, 145.

De la Pole, Michael, second earl of
Suffolk: dies at the siege of Har-
fleur, 126, 308.

INDEX

De la Pole, Michael, third earl of
Suffolk: slain at Agincourt, 126,
808.

De la Pole, William, fourth earl of
Suffolk; wrongly stated to be
slain at Baugé, 132, 319.

Denbigh, lordship of: suit brought
by the earl of Salisbury, 16, 17,
160, 162; spared by Glendower,
71, 239.

Denmark, king of: see Eric, king
of Denmark.

Derby, earl of: see Henry Boling-
broke.

Despencer, Thomas, baron: im-
peaches the duke of Gloucester
and others, 18, 157; made earl
of Gloucester, 17, 162; sent by
Richard II. to arouse the Welsh,
27, 177; said to have poisoned
the young duke of Gloucester,
29, 180; beheaded at Bristol, 48,
203.

Deverill: living given by the pope
to Adam of Usk, 77, 246.

Diest: Adam of Usk passes through,
74, 242. é

Dijon: Adam of Usk passes through,
104, 283.

Dorset, earl of:
Thomas.

Dorset, marquess of : see Beaufort,
John, earl of Somerset.

Douglas, Archibald, earl: taken
prisoner at Homildon Hill, 85,
256 ; takes part in the battle of
Shrewsbury, 83, 253.

Du Bois, Pierre, bishop of Acqs:
confirms the acts of the parlia-
ment of 1397, 18, 163,

Dunbar, George, earl of, and of
March: transfers his allegiance
to England, 65, 231; present at
the battle of Shrewsbury, 82, 252.

Dymock, Margaret: her right to the
office of champion, 35, 188, 189.

see Beaufort,

327

Dymock, sir Thomas: champion
at Henry IV.’s coronation, 34,
188 ; his petition for the office,
35, 188.

Easter: ceremonies at Rome, 98,
274, 275.

Edmund of Langley, duke of
York: absolved for share in the
commission of regency, 12, 13,
56,

Edward the confessor: bells on his
shrine ring spontaneously, 55,
218,

Edward III.: his death, 1, 137; his
invasion of France thwarted by
weather, 8, 149.

Eeckhout, near Bruges: the earl of
Northumberland lodged there,
106, 287.

Egypt: story of the soldan of Baby-
lon, 102, 108, 280, 281.

Eltham: Henry IV. and the Greek
emperor at, 57, 220.

Ely, bishop of: see Lylde, Thomas.

England : verses on, by the emperor
Sigismund, 180, 314.

Eric, king of Denmark:. marries
Philippa of Lancaster, 85, 256,
Erpingham, sir Thomas: one of a
deputation to receive Richard II.’s
surrender of the crown, 32, 185.

Essex: rising in, in Jack Straw’s
rebellion, 1, 187.

Ethiopians: see Indians,

Excommunication, general: cere-
mony of, at Rome, 97, 278,

Exeter, bishop of: see Stafford,
Edmund.

Exeter, duke of: see Holland, John.

Falaise: siege of, 131, 817.

False prophet: at Rome, 95,
271.

Feriby, William: executed, 42, 198.

96,

328

Fitzalan, Richard, earl of Arundel:

takes part in the battle of Radcot- }

bridge, 6,145 ; enters London and
blockades the Tower, ibid.; im-
peached and executed, 10, 13, 14,
_ 158, 157-159; his memory cher-
ished by the people, 15, 159; dis-
posal of his lands,15,160; Richard
II.’s dream about him, 39, 193;
death of his second wife, 55, 217.
Fitzalan, Thomas, earl of Arundel:
made a knight of the Bath, 33,
187; serves as butler at Henry
IV.’s coronation, 34, 187 ; dies at
Harfleur, 126, 308.

Fitzalan, Thomas, archbishop of

Canterbury (archbishop Arun-
del): active against the Lollards,
_ 4, 142; impeached, 11, 12, 154,
156; forbidden parliament, 11,
155; banished, 15, 160; time
allowed for his departure, 16,
161; lands in England with
Henry Bolingbroke, 25, 174;
negotiates for the surrender of
Richard II. at Conway, 28, 178 ;
sermon in parliament on Henry
IV.’s election, 32, 185; officiates
at his coronation, 34, 187; his
temporalities restored, 37, 192;
confers livings on Adam of Usk,
40, 195; sermon on the suppres-
sion of rebellion against Henry
IV., 42, 198; has charge of the
bishop of Norwich, 43, 203 ; holds
convocations, 44, 58, 204, 221;
condemns W. Sawtre, 58, 222;
shows favour to Adam of Usk,
119, 297 ; his visitation of Oxford
university resisted, 120,299 ; con-
demns sir John Oldcastle, 121,
300; his zeal against the Lol-
lards, 122, 302, 308 ; his last con-
- vocation, 122, 302; his death,
122, 301, 302; Adam of Usk’s
vision of it, 122, 302.

INDEX

Fitz-Hugh, Henry, baron: attends
the council of Constance, 124,
304.

Fitz-Pers, John, seneschal of Usk
castle: released from prison, 61,
227.

Fitz-Walter, Walter, baron: taken
by corsairs and dies, 78, 248.

Flanders : mock gospel on the battle
of Courtrai, 107-110.

Flint: capture of Richard II. at,
28, 178, 179.

France: preparations for war with,
44, 205; questions on queen Isa-
bella’s dower, 48-54, 209-217 ;
and on king John’s ransom, 50-
54, 212-217; the dauphin made
duke of Aquitaine, 56, 219; the
French seize Gascony, 64, 2380 ;
queen Isabella surrendered, 69,
236; skirmishes of the English
and French fleets, ibid.; Henry
IV. determines on war with, 69,
237; the earl of Rutland sent to
Gascony, 71, 288; French expe-
dition in aid of Glendower, 85,
255; political disturbances, 105,
106, 285, 286; the peers of
France, 106, 285, 286; mock
gospel on the battle of Courtrai,
107-110; embassies between
England and France, 120, 300;
failure of an English embassy to,
125, 306; embassy to Henry V.,
125, 307; he invades France,
ibid.; battle of Agincourt, 126,
308, 309; fight with the earl of
Dorset, 129, 3138; the duke of
Bedford’s sea-fight, 130, 314;
Henry V.’s second invasion, 131,
316; the French fleet scattered,
ibid.; Normandy reduced by
Henry V., 131, 317; treaty of
Troyes, 132, 319; battle of Baugé,
ibid.; successes of the earl of
Salisbury, 133, 319.

INDEX

Frevyle, sir Baldwin: claims the
championship, 34, 188.

Fykettysfeld (Little Lincoln’s
Fields) : gathering of Lollards in,
121, 301.

Gam, David: slain at Agincourt,
126, 309.

Games: at Rome, 94, 95, 269-271.

Gascony : seized by the French, 64,
230; the earl of Rutland sent
thither, 71, 238.

Genoa: Adam of Usk passes
through, 103, 281.

Genoese: provide palms for Palm
Sunday at Rome, 97, 273; their
rovers, 103, 281.

George, saint: his festival made
a holiday, 127, 310.

Germany: Irish missionaries to,
101, 279; festivals in memory of
king Arthur, 106, 286.

Germany, emperor of: question on
his election, 59, 223; verses on,
and ceremonies, 59, 223, 224.

See Rupert, count-palatine.
Sigismund.
Wenceslaus.

Ghibellines: see Guelphs.

Glamorganshire: attempt to arouse
the men of, in favour of Richard
II., 27, 177; invaded by men of
Bristol, 84, 255.

Glendower, Owen: his first rising
and defeat, 47, 208; harries
Wales and takes lord Grey pri-
soner, 64, 77, 230, 247; attacks
Pool, etc., 70, 237; captures the
baggage of Henry, prince of
Wales, ibid.; lays siege to
Caernarvon, 71, 238; his banner,
ibid.; harries the lordship of
Ruthin and spares Denbigh, 71,
239; letter to the king of Scot-
land, 72, 239; and to the lords
of Ireland, 73, 241 ; defeats sir E.

329

Mortimer, 77, 246; who marries
his daughter, 77, 247; harries
the border, 78, 247; advances to-
wards Shrewsbury, 82, 252; har-
ries South Wales and the country
of the Severn, 84, 254 ; his friends
in England executed or impri-
soned, 84, 255; French expe-
dition in his aid, 85, 255; holds
parliaments, 86, 257; his son
Griffith defeated and captured,
103, 282; and dies in the Tower,
104, 282 ; capture of his family,
119, 297, 298; his death and
secret burial, 129, 313.

Gloucester, dukes of :

See Plantagenet, Humphrey.
Thomas of Woodstock.

Gloucester, earl of: see Despencer,
Thomas.

Goldcliff priory: endowment alien-
ated, 124, 305.

Graduates: promotion of, in the
church, 132, 318.

Greek church: services, 57, 220.

Greek emperor: see Manuel II.,
Paleologus.

Greek empire: laments for its con-
dition, 77, 96, 246,272; embassy
to Innocent VII., 96, 272.

Gregory XII., pope: 125, 306.

Grene, sir Henry: beheaded at
Bristol, 25, 174.

Grey, John, styled earl of Tanker-
ville: slain at Baugé, 132, 319.
Grey, Reginald, baron, of Ruthin:
serves at Henry IV.’s coronation,
34, 188; suit for the Hastings
arms, 58, 68, 221, 229; taken
prisoner by Glendower, 64, 77,

230, 247; his ransom, 77, 247.

Grey, Richard de, baron, of Codnor:
aids in the defeat of Griffith
Glendower, 103, 282.

Grey, sir Thomas, of Heton: one of
a deputation to receive Richard

330

Il’s surrender of the crown, 82,
185.

Grey, sir Thomas, of Heton [son of
the above]: executed for a plot
against Henry V., 125, 307.

Grey friars: see Minorites.

Greyhound belongingto Richard II:
anecdote of, 40, 41, 196.

Greyndour, sir John: aids in the
defeat of Griffith Glendower, 103,
282.

Greystock, Ralph, baron: joins
Henry Bolingbroke, 25, 174.

Guelphs and Ghibellines: their
constant turbulence, 76, 88, 94,
99, 100, 245, 260, 269, 276, 277.

Gurguint Brabtruc, king of Britain:
grants Ireland to the Scots, 102,
280.

Gwladus the Dark: ancestress of
the earls of March, 19, 20, 22,
166, 167.

Hales, sir Robert, treasurer: be-
headed by the mob, 1, 138.

Halle, John: executed, 37, 191.

Hallum, Robert, bishop of Salis-
bury: attends the council of
Constance, 124, 304.

Halnaker: death of lady St. John
at, 55, 217.

Hangest, Jean, sire de, lord of
Huguevilles: commands the
French expedition in aid of Glen-
dower, 85, 255.

Hanningfield, West: living given
to Adam of Usk, 55, 217.

Harfleur: captured by Henry V.,
125, 307; inhabitants replaced
by English settlers, 126, 307;
English losses in the siege, 126,
307, 308; verse on its capture,
129, 313; revictualled, 130, 314.

Harlech: sir E. Mortimer be-
sieged, and dies at, 77, 247.

INDEX

Hastings, Edward, baron: suit with
lord Grey, 58, 63, 221, 229.

Hastings, John, second earl of
Pembroke: taken prisoner at
Rochelle, 8, 149.

Hastings, John, third earl of Pem-
broke: death of his widow, 55,
217; suit on his death, 58, 221.

Helias, the pope’s physician: cures
Adam of Usk, 100, 277.

Henry Bolingbroke, earl of Derby,
afterwards Henry IV.: takes part
in the battle of Radcot-bridge, 6,
145; enters London and block-
ades the Tower, ibid.; accuses the
earl of Arundel, 14, 158; made
duke of Hereford, 17, 162; his
quarrel with the duke of Norfolk,
23, 24,170, 171; the duel, 24, 171;
his display, ibid.; banished, ibid. ;
becomes duke of Laneaster, ibid. ;
exiled and his goods seized, 24,
172; prophecies applied to him,
24, 25, 172, 173; his badge, 25,
173 ; lands at Ravenspur, 25, 174;
marches to Bristol, ibid.; through
Hereford, etc., to Chester, 25, 26,
175, 176; proclamation to spare
the county of Chester, 25, 175;
reviews his army, 27,176; enters
Chester, ibid.; takes Richard II.
prisoner at Flint and removes
him to Chester, 28, 178, 179;
deputation of London citizens to
him, 28, 179 ; marches to London,
29,179; imprisons Richard in
the Tower, ibid. ; question of his
right to the crown by descent,
30, 182; claims the crown and
is enthroned, 33, 186; fixes the
day of his coronation, and sum-
mons a new parliament, ibid. ;
makes knights of the Bath, 33,
187; his coronation, ibid.; his
words to the champion, 34, 188 ;
Richard’s greyhound follows him,

INDEX 331

40, 41, 196; conspiracy against
him, 41, 197; he escapes to Lon-
don, ibid.; taxes the peers for
war, 44, 205; his campaign in
Scotland, 47, 208; defeats Glen-
dower, ibid. ; submits to Adam of
Usk questions on queen Isabella’s
dower, etc., 48-54, 209-217;
spends Christmas at Eltham, 57,
220; holds a parliament, 58, 221;
negotiations for the marriage of
his daughter Blanche with Louis
of Bavaria, 59, 223; quells a riot
at Norton St. Philip, 62, 228;
letter to him from P. Repyngdon,
65-69, 231-236; his fleet skir-
mishes with the French fleet, 69,
236; determines on war with
France and Holland, 69, 237; at
Strata-florida, 70, 237; present at
the execution. of a Welsh pri-
soner, 70, 237; taxes the country
for his daughters’ marriages, 71,
239; invades Wales, 78, 247; de-
feats the Percys at Shrewsbury,
82, 88, 252, 253; marries Joan of
Navarre, 85, 255; marriage of his
daughters, 85, 256; letter to him
from Adam of Usk, 86, 87, 257,
258; his illness and death, 119,
298; buried at Canterbury,
ibid.; omen at his coronation,
Henry, prince of Wales, afterwards
Henry V.: imprisoned in Trim
castle, 29, 180; returns to Eng-
land and brings sir W. Bagot
@ prisoner, ibid.; made a knight
of the Bath, 33, 187; bears a
sword at the coronation of Henry
IV., 34, 187; made prince of
Wales, 36, 37, 190, 191; and duke
of Cornwall, 37, 191; confers
a prebend on Adam of Usk, 45,
206; receives the surrender of
Conway castle, 61, 226; his bag-

Hereford :

gage taken by Glendower, 70,
237; present at the execution
of a Welsh prisoner, ibid.; his
accession and coronation, 120,
298, 299; storm on his coronation
day, 120, 299; issues a general
pardon, ibid.; holds a parlia-
ment, ibid.; devices for raising
money, ibid. ; embassies between
England and France, 120, 300;
represses the Lollard rising, 121,
801; issues a general pardon,
124, 805; his religious foun-
dations, ibid.; levies private
loans, 124, 130, 133, 305, 306,
316, 320; failure of embassy to
France, 125, 306; goes on pil-
grimages, 125, 307; receives
French ambassadors at Ports-
mouth, ibid.; the earl of Cam-
bridge’s plot against him, ibid. ;
princess of Aragon offered to him
in marriage, ibid. ; invades France
and captures Harfleur, ibid.; de-
feats the French at Agincourt,
126, 308, 309; returns to Eng-
land, 128, 311; rejoicings and
pageant in London, 128, 129, 311,
312; his devotions at St. Paul’s,
129, 312; goes a pilgrimage in
Wales, 129, 313; again invades
France, 131, 132, 316, 318; scat-
ters the French fleet, 131, 316;
conquers Normandy, 131, 317;
treaty of Troyes, 132, 319; mar-
ries Katharine of France, ibid. ;
returns to England, ibid.; levies
loans and prepares for his last
campaign in France, 133, 320.
Henry Bolingbroke
marches through, 25, 175,

Hereford, bishops of:

See Lacy, Edmund.
Trevenant, John.

Hereford, duke of: see non Bo-

lingbroke.

332

Holbache, David: obtains pardon
for Adam of Usk, 118, 297.

‘Holland, count of: see William of
Bavaria.

Holland, John, first earl of Hunting-
don: impeaches the duke of
Gloucester and others, 13, 156;
made duke of Exeter, 17, 162;
captain of Calais, 23, 171; con-
spires against Henry IV., 41, 197;
killed by the mob, 42, 198.

Holland, John, second earl of Hunt-
ingdon: taken prisoner at Baugé,
132, 319.

Holland, Thomas, earl of Kent:
impeaches the duke of Glouces-
ter and others, 13, 156; present
at the execution of the earl of
Arundel, 14, 159; made duke of
Surrey, 17, 162; lord-lieutenant
of Ireland, 19, 165; marshal of
England, 23, 171; Richard II.’s
design to make him king of Ire-
land, 36, 190; conspires against
Henry IV., and is killed at Ciren-
cester, 41, 42, 197.

Holywell St. Winifred, co. Flint:
Henry V. goes on a pilgrimage
thither, 129, 313.

Homildon Hill: defeat of the Scots
at, 85, 256.

Huguevilles, lord of: see Hangest,
Jean, sire de.

Hungary, king of: see Sigismund,
king of Hungary and emperor of
Germany.

Hungerford, sir Walter: attends the
council of Constance, 124, 304.
Huntingdon, earls of: see Holland,

John.

Ilderim: Bajazet I. so called, 62,
227.

Indians [Ethiopians]: at Rome, 93,
267; their form of baptism,
ibid.

INDEX

Innocent VII., pope: his election,
88, 260; his house sacked, ibid. ;
Adam of Usk’s vision respecting
him, 89, 261; treaty with the
Romans, ibid. ; ceremonies at his
coronation, 90, 91, 262-264; his
testimony in favour of Adam of
Usk, 92, 265; ceremonies at fes-
tivals in Rome, 92, 95-98, 266,
271-275; receives a Greek em-
bassy, 96, 272; his answer to
them, ibid.; uses the arms of Ara-
gon, 98, 274; flees from Rome to

. Viterbo, 99, 276; insults to him
from the Romans, ibid.; his jeer
at Adam of Usk, 100, 277; the
Romans submit to him, ibid. ;
he re-enters Rome in state, 100,
278. See also Migliorati, Cosimo
dei.

Ireland : Richard II.’s expeditions
to, 9, 24, 151,172; Roger earl of
March lord-lieutenant, 18, 164;
the duke of Surrey appointed,
19, 165; Edmund earl of March
lord-lieutenant, 22, 168; Richard
II’s design to make the
duke of Surrey king of, 36,
190; complaint of Irish lords,
64, 230; Thomas of Lancaster,
lord - lieutenant, sent against
the Irish, 71, 238; Glendower’s
letter to the lords of Ireland,
73, 241; Irish missionaries in
Germany, 101, 279; tradition of
the origin of the Scots and their
occupation of Ireland, 101, 102,
279, 280; Irish in England or-
dered home, 120, 131, 299, 316.

Isabella, daughter of Charles VI. of
France: married to Richard II.,
9, 151; questions concerning her
dower, 48-54, 209-217; leaves
London, 63, 228, 229; restored to
the French, 69, 236.

Islip, Simon, archbishop of Canter-

INDEX

bury: interferes in the law courts
in favour of the bishop of Ely,
44, 205.

Jersey: lord Cobham banished
thither, 18, 164.

Jerusalem : reported destruction of,
62, 227.

Jesus Christ: prophecies of his
birth, 110, 288.

Jews: their ceremony at the papal
coronation, 91, 264; game at
Rome at their cost, 95, 270.

Joan, pope: her image at Rome,
90, 263.

Joan of Kent, princess of Wales:
her mediation with Richard II,
5, 143, 144.

Joan of Navarre, duchess-dowager
of Brittany: married to Henry
IV., 85, 255.

John the Baptist: his head at
Amiens, 104, 283.

John XXIII., pope: deposed, 125,
306. See also Cossa, Balthasar.
John, king of France: questions
concerning his ransom, 50-53,

212-216.

John of Bavaria, bishop of Liége:
supports the duke of Burgundy,
105, 285.

John, duke of Bedford: holds a
parliament, 126, 309; fights the

- French at sea, 130, 314.

John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster :
flees from the London rioters into
Scotland, 2, 1388; supports Wy-
cliffe and quarrels with the Lon-
doners, 4, 141; his expedition to
Spain, 7, 147; presides at the
trial of the earl of Arundel, 13,
14, 157, 158; and of lord Cob-
ham, 18, 164; ambush laid for
him by the duke of Norfolk, 23,
169; his death, and burial in
St. Paul’s, 24, 171.

333

John ap Griffith, abbot of Llan-
thony: his death, 45, 205.

John ap Hoel, prior of Llanthony :
made abbot, 45, 206.

John of Usk: see Usk, John.

Judgement-day, the: tokens and
portents of, 111, 289; verses on,
112-117, 290-295.

Justices : banished to Ireland, 6,146.

Justinian: his codex and digest
quoted, 39, 45, 46, 194, 206, 207,

Katharine of France: married to
Henry V., 132, 319; her corona-
tion, ibid.

Kells: the earl of March slain at,
19, 165,

Kemsing: the living given to Adam
of Usk, 40, 195.

Kent: Jack Straw’s rising in, 1, 137.

Kent, earl of: see Holland, Thomas.

Knighton: Glendower defeats sir
E. Mortimer at, 77, 246.

Knoyle: the pope appoints Adam
of Usk to the church of, 77, 246.

Kyghley, sir Richard: slain at Agin-
court, 126, 308.

Kyme, earl of: see Umfreville,
Gilbert de.

Lacy, Edmund, bishop of Hereford :
his consecration, 132, 318.
Ladislas, king of Naples: invades
Hungary and is defeated, 77,
247; said to have guarded the
conclave at Rome, 88, 260; re-
ceives a grant of Campania, 90,
262; occupies Rome, 99, 276;
retires, 100, 277.
Lambeth palace: the arms of Roger
Walden removed, 38, 192, 193.
Lancaster, dukes of :
See John of Gaunt.
Henry Bolingbroke.
Lancaster king of arms; see Brugg,
Richard del.

t

334

Lancaster, Robert de [abbot of
Llanegwast]: made bishop of St.
Asaph, 106, 287.

Langley: Richard II. buried there,
44, 205.

Langton, Walter de, bishop of Lich-
field and chancellor: his im-
prisonment referred to, 44, 204.

Lans-le-bourg: Adam of Usk passes
through, 103, 282.

Lateran, the: ceremonies at, on the
coronation of Innocent VII., 90,
263.

Latimer, William, baron: bears the
sceptre at Henry IV.’s corona-
tion, 34, 187.

Launde, the prior of: hanged, 84,
255.

Legh, sir Piers de: beheaded, 27,177.

Leicester: parliament held there,
123, 303, 304.

Leicester, abbot of: see Repyngdon,
Philip.

Leominster: Henry Bolingbroke
passes through, 25, 175.

Lichfield, bishops of :

See Burghill, John.
Catterick, John.
Langton, Walter de.

Liége, bishop of: see John of Ba-
varia.

Lionel, duke of Clarence: arms of
him and his retinue at Aigue-
belle, 103, 282.

Liveries: statute against irregular
use of, 39, 194.

Llanbadock : one-eyed boy at, 41,
197.

Llanbister: Adam of Usk receives
the prebend from the pope, 77,
246.

Llancayo: monster calf at, 41, 197.

Llandaff: peace in the diocese, 70,
237 ; the archdeaconry conferred
by the pope on Adam of Usk, 77,
246 ; the church pillaged, 84, 255.

INDEX

Llandefailog: the living given by
the pope to Adam of Usk, 77, 246.

Llandogo: the prebend given to
Adam of Usk, 40, 195.

Llandovery: execution of a Welsh
prisoner at, 70, 237.

Llanegwast, the abbot of: made
bishop of St. Asaph, 106, 287.
Llanthony: succession of abbots,
45, 205, 206; the abbot slain,

108, 282.

Llewellyn: uncle of Constantine
the great, 97, 272.

Llewellyn, prince of Wales: the
stream wherein his head was
washed flows blood, 55, 218.

Llugu verch Watkyn: owner of a
monster calf, 41, 197.

Loans: 124, 130, 133, 306, 316,
320.

Lollards: prevalence of their he-
resy, 3, 4, 140, 141; numbers
slain, 4, 141; troubles in Lon-
don, ibid.; rising in London, 4,
121, 142, 300, 301.

Lombard merchants in London:
restrictions, 55, 217.

Lombardy : anarchy in, 75, 94, 2438,
269.

London: riots under Jack Straw,
1, 187; prevalence of Lollardy,
8, 140; riot against John of
Gaunt, 4, 141; rising of Lol-
lards, 4, 121, 142, 300, 301; the
confederate lords march thither
and blockade the Tower, 6, 145;
deputation to Henry Boling-
broke, 28, 179; search in West-
minster abbey for Richard IL.,
tbid.; Henry Bolingbroke enters
the city, 29, 179; sermon and
procession, on suppression of
plot against Henry IV., 42, 198 ;
heads set up on London-bridge,
43, 203; Richard IL.’s body
brought thither, 44, 205; riots

INDEX

of apprentices, 45, 206; plague,
ibid.; restrictions on Lombard
merchants, 55, 217; a Scotch
herald disgraced, 63, 229; re-
joicings for Henry V.’s victories,
128, 129, 133, 311, 312, 319.

London diocese: proposed transla-
tion to the bishopric, 92, 265;
adoption of the use of Sarum,
124, 305.

Louis of Bavaria, son of the em-
peror Rupert: proposals for his
marriage, 59, 223; marries
Blanche of Lancaster, 85, 256.

Lucerne: Adam of Usk passes
through, 74, 242.

Lucy, sir William: slain by rioters
at Bergavenny, 63, 228.

Ludlow: Henry Bolingbroke lodges
in the castle, 25, 175.

Lylde, Thomas, bishop of Ely: his
trial interrupted, 44, 205.

Maastricht: Adam of Usk passes
through, 74, 242.

Machynlleth: parliaments held
there by Glendower, 86, 257.

Malepella, count of: receives a
sword in a ceremony at Rome,
92, 266.

Malvern, John de, prior of Wor-
cester: attends the council of
Constance, 124, 304.

Man, isle of: the earl of Warwick
banished thither, 17, 161.

Manuel II., Paleologus, Greek em-
peror: visits England, 56, 57,
219, 220; his dress, ibid.; at
Eltham, ibid. ;

March, countess of : see Mortimer,
Philippa.

March, earls of:

See Mortimer, Edmund.
Mortimer, Roger.

March, earl of, in Scotland: see

Dunbar, George, earl of.

335

Martin V., pope: his election, 131,
817, 318.

Matthew ap Hoel: receives the
living of Panteg, 40, 195.

Maudeleyn, Richard: executed, 42,
198,

Meric: uncle of Constantine the
Great, 97, 272.

Merionethshire :
dower, 71, 239.

Merke, Thomas, bishop of Carlisle:
bearer of a message to archbishop
Arundel, 11,155; imprisoned and
deprived, 43, 204; bishop in par-
tibus, ibid.

Merstham : Adam of Usk presented
to the living, 119, 297.

Merton hall, Oxford:
Welsh in riots, 7, 148.

Metford, Richard, bishop of Salis-
bury: bearer of a letter from
Adam of Usk to the king, 86,
257.

Migliorati, Cosimo dei, cardinal of
Bologna, afterwards pope Inno-
cent VII.: examines Adam of
Usk, 75, 243. See also Innocent
VII., pope.

Milan: Adam of Usk passesthrough,
75, 242.

Milan, archbishop of: see Visconti,
Giovanni.

Milan, duke of: see Visconti, Gian-
Galeazzo.

Miletus: T. Merke made bishop of
a diocese so called, 48, 204.

Minorites or grey friars: executions
of, 84, 255.

Mona, Guy de, bishop of St. David's:
proposed translation to London,
92, 265.

Moncalieri: Adam of Usk passes
through, 103, 281.

Monkswood, near Usk: Griffith
Glendower captured there, 103,
282.

supports Glen-

aids the

336

Monstarri [Trostrey ?]: gathering
of the men of Usk there, 25, 175.

Montacute, John de, earl of Salis-
bury: impeaches the duke of
Gloucester and others, 18, 157;
suit against the earl of March,
15, 17,160,162; conspires against
Henry IV. and is killed, 41, 42,
197; suit by lord Morley against
his sureties, 45, 206.

Montacute, Thomas de, earl of
Salisbury: made governor of
Normandy, and carries on the
war, 133, 319. .

Montferrat, marquisate of: Adam
of Usk passes through, 108, 281.

Morley, Thomas, baron: suit against

- the sureties of the earl of Salis-
bury, 45, 206.

Mortimer, Edmund, third earl of
March: lord-lieutenant of Ire-
land, 22, 168; his death and
epitaph, ibid.; death of his
daughter Philippa, 54, 55, 217.

Mortimer, Edmund, fifth earl of
March: his county of Ulster
attacked by the earl of Orkney,
62, 228; his lordship of Denbigh
spared by Glendower, 71, 239;
the crown claimed for him by
the Percys, 82, 252; gives to the
king a married pair of Welsh
children, 121, 300; discovers the
plot against Henry V., 125, 307.

Mortimer, sir Edmund: taken pri-
soner by Glendower, and marries
his daughter, 77, 246; besieged
and dies at Harlech, 77, 247;
songs in his memory, ibid.

Mortimer, Lionel: son of sir E.
Mortimer, 77, 247.

Mortimer, Philippa, countess of
March, widow of Edmund, third
earl: her epitaph, 22, 168.

Mortimer, Roger, fourth earl of
March: suit against him by the

INDEX

earl of Salisbury, 15, 17, 160,
162; attends the parliament at
Shrewsbury, 18, 164; Richard II.’s
designs against him, 19, 165;
slain in Ireland, ibid.; his gene-
alogy, 19-23, 166-169.

Mortimer, sir Thomas: impeached,
13, 157; banished, 15, 159; be-
friended by the earl of March in
Treland, 19, 165.

Mowbray, Thomas, earl of Notting-
ham, afterwards duke of Norfolk :
takes part in the battle of Radcot-
bridge, 6, 145; enters London
and blockades the Tower, ibid.;
impeaches the duke of Gloucester
and others, 18, 157; as captain
of Calais, reports Gloucester’s
death, 15, 160; made duke of
Norfolk, 17, 162; lays an ambush
against John of Gaunt, 23, 169;
his quarrel with Henry Boling-
broke, 23, 24, 170,171; the duel,
24, 171; exiled, ibid.; dies at
Venice, ibid.

Mowbray, Thomas, earl of Notting-
ham, earl marshal: beheaded at
York, 99, 275.

Naples: heroic death of a lady
taken by corsairs, 84, 254.

Naples, king of: see Ladislas, king
of Naples.

Navarre, Joan of: see Joan of Na-
varre.

Neath priory: endowment alien-
ated, 124, 305.

Nevill, Alexander, archbishop of
York: flees abroad, 6, 145; ab-
solved for share in the commis-
sion of regency, 12, 156.

Nevill, Ralph, baron: officiates at
the trial of the earl of Arundel,
18, 157; made earl of Westmore-
land, 17,162; joins Henry Boling-
broke, 25, 174; one of a deputa-

INDEX

tion to receive Richard II.'s sur-
render of the crown, 31, 184;
bears the rod at Henry IV.’s
coronation, 34, 187.

Newport castle: ruined by Glen-
dower, 78, 247.

Norfolk, duke of: see Mowbray,
Thomas,

Normandy: conquered by Henry V.,
131, 182, 317, 318.

Northumberland, earl of: see Percy,
Henry.

Norton St. Philip:
taxes, 62, 227.

Norwich, bishops of:

See Courtenay, Richard.
Spencer, Henry.

Nottingham, earls of: see Mow-
bray, Thomas.

Nuneaton priory: scandal in, 57,220.

riot against

Oldcastle, sir John, styled lord
Cobham : condemned for heresy,
and sent to the Tower and
escapes, 121, 300; his rising in
London, 121, 301; captured and
burnt, 131, 317.

Orkney, earl of:
Henry.

Orleans, Charles, duke of: made
prisoner at Agincourt, 126, 309.

Orleans, Louis, duke of: opposes
the earl of Northumberland in
France, 105, 284; murdered, 105,
285.

Orsini, Paolo, papal commander:
sent to relieve Rome, 100, 277.
Ostia: Adam of Usk escapesthrough,

99, 277.

Ostia, cardinal of: see Acciajuoli,
Angelo.

Oxford: the confederate lords
march through, 6, 145; riots, 7,
147; executions, 42, 198; the
university resists the visitation
of archbishop Arundel, 120, 299.

see Sinclair,

Z

337

Oxford, earls of:
See Vere, Aubrey de.
Vere, Robert de.

Padua: the emperor Rupert de-
feated there by the duke of
Milan, 75, 244; taken by the
duke of Milan, 76, 244.

Palms: ceremony of, at Rome, 97,
2738,

Panteg: the living transferred to
Matthew ap Hoel, 40, 195.

Paris: Adam of Usk there, 104,
117, 283, 295.

Parliaments, and business tran-
sacted in: 4, 9-17, 18, 24, 32, 36,
39, 85, 120, 123, 124, 126, 129,
130, 131, 142, 152-168, 171, 172,
185, 190, 191, 194, 256, 299, 303,
304, 305, 309, 314, 316, 317.

Patryngton, Stephen de: elected
bishop of St. David’s, 123, 303.

Pembroke: Richard II. lands there
from Ireland, 27, 177.

Pembroke, earls of: see Hastings,
John.

Penthiévre, Olivier de Blois, count
of: joins the dauphin, 132, 319.

Percy, house of: its pride, 85, 256.

Percy, Henry, earl of Northumber-
land: joins Henry Bolingbroke,
25, 174; sent to Conway to treat
with Richard II., 28,178; one of
a deputation to receive Richard's
surrender of the crown, 31, 184;
bears a sword at Henry IV.’s
coronation, 34, 187; defeats the
Scots, 47, 48, 71, 209, 239; and
at Homildon Hill, 85, 256; ad-
vances against Henry IV. towards
Shrewsbury, 82, 252; pardoned,
86, 257; joins Glendower and is
defeated, 104, 283, 284; passes
over to France, 104, 284; thence
to Scotland, 105, 284; enticed
into England, and defeated and

338

slain at Bramham moor, ibid.; at
Bruges, 106, 287; portent there
foretelling his fate, 107, 287, 288.

Percy, Henry (Hotspur): defeats
the Scots, 47, 48, 71, 209, 239;
and at Homildon Hill, 85, 256;
slain at Shrewsbury, 83, 253.

Percy, sir Thomas, afterwards earl
of Worcester: appointed to repre-
sent the prelates in parliament,
12,155; made earl of Worcester,
17, 162; beheaded after the
battle of Shrewsbury, 83, 253.

Perigord, county of: seized by the
French, 64, 230.

Perigord, Archambaud, count of:
comes to England, 64, 230.

Persia, son of the king of: see
Tamerlane.

Perugia: revolt of, 76, 245.
Philippa of Lancaster: married to
Eric, king of Denmark, 85, 256.
Piacenza: Adam of Usk passes

through, 75, 242.

Pietrasanta: Adam of Usk passes
through, 75, 242.

Pileus de Prata, cardinal: comes
to England to negotiate for the
marriage of Ann of Bohemia, 2,
139; makes Adam of Usk a no-
tary, 3, 139; his rapacity, 3, 140.

Pisa: Adam of Usk passes through,
75, 242.

Plague: in England, 46, 207. |

Plantagenet, Edward, earl of Rut-
land: impeaches the duke of
Gloucester and others, 18, 156;
made duke of Albemarle, 17, 162;
sent against the French in Gas-
cony, 71, 238.

Plantagenet, Edward, duke of York:
slain at Agincourt, 126, 308.

Plantagenet, Humphrey, duke of
Gloucester: imprisoned at Trim,
29, 180; poisoned, and dies at
Anglesey, ibid.

INDEX

Plantagenet, Richard, earl of Cam-
bridge: executed for a plot
against Henry V., 125, 307.

Pluralities: attempted reforms of,
76, 245.

Po, river: diverted by the duke of
Milan, 76, 244.

Poland, king of: see Vladislas, king
of Poland,

Ponfald: execution of Welsh pri-
soners at, 108, 282.

Pontefract castle: Richard II. im-
prisoned, and dies there, 42, 199.

Pontremoli: Adam of Usk passes
through, 75, 242.

Pool or Pontypool: attacked by
Glendower, 70, 237; death of
lord Cherleton at, 70,238; Adam
of Usk takes refuge there, 118,
296.

Popes:

See Benedict XIII.
Boniface IX.
Gregory XII.
Innocent VII.
John XXIII.
Martin V.

Portsmouth: Henry V. there, on his
way to invade France, 125, 307.
Powis: joins Glendower and is har-

ried by the English, 70, 237,

Poynings, Philippa de, lady St.
John: death of, 55, 217.

Prelates: not to take part in cri-
minal proceedings in parliament,
11, 154; appoint sir T. Percy
their proctor, 12, 155; their
right in collations, 60, 224.

Prestbury, Thomas: released from
prison and made abbot of Shrews-
bury, 26, 175.

Prices: rise of price of wheat, 70,
238.

Prodigies: 37, 41, 55, 75, 191, 197,
218, 243.

Prophecies: of Bridlington and

INDEX 339

Merlin, etc., 8, 24, 25, 28, 39,
149, 171, 172, 178, 179, 194.
Provins: Adam of Usk passes
through, 104, 283.
Provisions, papal: relaxations in
favour of, 60, 224; statutes
against, 85, 256.

Rabat, Pierre de, bishop of St. Pons:
his speech to Boniface IX., 87,259.

Radcot-bridge: defeat of the earl
of Oxford at, 6, 145.

Raglan: the lordship confirmed to
sir J. Berkeley, 40, 195.

Reading: council held at, 130, 316.

Rehoboam: Richard II. likened to,
36, 190.

Repyngdon, Philip, abbot of Lei-
cester: ona mission to Nuneaton,
57, 220; his letter to Henry IV.,
65-69, 231-236.

Rhys ap Griffith, of Cardigan: exe-
cuted, 118, 296.

Rhys ap Tudor, of Anglesey: exe-
cuted, 118, 296.

Richard II.: accession, 1, 187; ex-
pectations of him, ibid.; Straw’s
rebellion, 2, 188; marries Ann
of Bohemia, 3, 139, 140; his
troubled reign, 3, 140; under
control of the commission of re-
gency, 4, 142; his designs against
it, 5, 143; feigns reconciliation
with the confederate lords, 5,144;
blockaded in the Tower, and sub-
mits, 6, 145; his quarrel with
archbishop Courtenay, 8, 150;
queen Ann dies, 9, 151; he
destroys Shene manor, and sails
for Ireland, ibid.; returns by
Bristol, ¢bid.; marries Isabella
of France, ibid.; his secret de-
signs, ibid.; holds a parliament,
10, 152; his archers threaten
parliament, 11, 154; treatment
of the earl of Warwick, 17, 162;

holds a parliament at Shrews-
bury, 18, 163; expenses laid on
the people, ibid.; extorts taxes,
18, 164; his design against the
earl of March, 19, 165; favours
the Chester guards, 23, 169; his
conduct at the duel of Norfolk
and Henry Bolingbroke, 24, 171 ;
powers of parliament given to
a commission, 24, 171, 172; his
tyranny, 24, 172; sails for Ire-
land, ibid.; his badge, 25, 173;
hears of Henry Bolingbroke’s
landing and returns to Pembroke,
27, 177; flees to Caermarthen,
ibid. ; his army breaks up, 28, 178;
he negotiates for surrender at
Conway, ibid.; taken prisoner at
Flint and removed to Chester, 28,
179; imprisoned in the Tower,
29, 179; likened to Arthgallo, 29,
180; rumours of his illegitimacy,
ibid.; commission to advise on
his deposition, 29, 181; visited
by Adam of Usk in the Tower,
30, 182; his lamentation, ibid. ;
question as to his right of sut-
cession, ibid.; his abdication re-
quired, 81, 32, 184; deposed in
parliament, 32, 185; his abdica-
tion published, ibid.; sentence
of deposition read, 82, 33, 186;
present at the ceremony of mak-
ing knights, 33, 187; remarks on
his government, 35, 36, 189, 190;
treatment of the countess of
Warwick, 36, 190; his design to
make the earl of Kent king of
Ireland, ibid. ; removed from the
Tower, 37,191; his dreams about
the earl of Arundel, 39, 193;
anecdote of his greyhound, 40,
41, 196; rising in his favour, 41,
197; his death, 42, 199; various
accounts of it, 199 note; omens
at his coronation, 42, 200; com-

840

-pared with Chosroes, 43, 202;
his body brought to London, 44,
205; buried at Langley, ibid.

Rickhill, William, judge: reports

' the confession of the duke of
Gloucester, 15, 160.

Rieux, Jean, sire de, et Rochefort,
marshal of Brittany : commands
an expedition to aid Glendower,
85, 255.

Rocheford, sir Ralph: attends the
council of Constance, 124, 304.
Rochelle, la: disaster to the earl of

Pembroke at, 8, 149.
Rochester, bishops of :
See Botsam, John.
Botsam, William.

Rochester bridge: maintenance of,
17, 162.

Rokeby, Thomas, sheriff of York :
defeats the earl of Northumber-
land at Bramham moor, 105, 284.

Rome: Adam of Usk’s journey
thither,74, 75,242,243; churches,
83, 84, 253, 254; riots, 88, 260;
conclave for election of the pope,
88, 89, 260, 261; treaty with the
pope, 89, 261 ; ceremonies at the
pope's coronation, etc., 90, 91,
262-264; its desolate state, 91,
264, 265; various ceremonies,
92, 93, 96-98, 266, 267, 272-
275; wolves and dogs at, 94,
269; games, 94, 95, 269, 270;
a false prophet, 95, 96, 271;
massacre of citizens and expul-
sion of Innocent VII., 99, 276:
occupied by Ladislas of Naples,
ibid.; submits to the pope, 100,
277; Ladislas retires, ibid.; In-
nocent returns in state, 100, 278.

Rome, church of: its evil state, 55,
56, 77, 78, 89, 218, 219, 246, 247,
261.

Rome, empire of: claimed by the
Greeks, 96, 272.

INDEX

Rose: ceremony of the, at Rome,
96, 272.

Rouen: besieged and taken by
Henry V., 132, 318.

Rupert, count-palatine, and em-
peror of Germany: his election,
55, 217; defeated by the duke of
Milan, 75, 244; confirmed by the
pope, 76, 245; bull of confirma-
tion, 79-82, 248-252.

Rushook, Thomas, bishop of Chi-
chester: banished, 6, 146.

Ruthin: the lordship harried by
Glendower, 71, 239.

Rutland, earl of: see Plantagenet,
Edward.

Rye, William: leads an expedition
from Bristol against South Wales,
84, 255.

St. Albans, abbot of: see De la
Moote, John.

St. Angelo, castle of : embassy from
Avignon imprisoned in, 88, 260.

St. Asaph, bishops of: see Lancaster,
Robert de.

St. David's, bishops of:

See Catterick, John.
Chicheley, Henry.
Mona, Guy de.
Patryngton, Stephen.

St. Eustace, cardinal of: see Cossa,
Balthasar.

St. Gotthard, mont: Adam of Usk
crosses the pass, 74, 242.

St. John, hospital of: creation of
the prior, at Rome, 93, 267.

St. John, lady: see Poynings,
Philippa de.

St. Paul’s church, London: John
of Gaunt buried there, 24, 171;
Richard II.’s body shown to the
people in, 44, 205; convocations
held there, 58, 123, 127, 129, 221,
304, 310, 314. :

INDEX

St. Peter’s church, Rome: altar of

: indulgence, 83, 254; Boniface IX.
buried there, 89, 261; ceremonies
atthe coronation of Innocent VIL,
90, 262.

St. Pol de Léon: Adam of Usk
escapes thither, 117, 296.

St. Pons de Tomiéres, bishop of: see
Rabat, Pierre de.

Salisbury, bishops of:

See Chaundler, John.
Hallum, Robert.
Metford, Richard.

Salisbury, earls of:

See Montacute, John de.
Montacute, Thomas de.

Salisbury, sir John: beheaded, 6,
146.

Saltwood castle: Roger Walden’s
goods seized there, 38, 192.

Saracens: their corsairs, 78, 84,
248, 254.

Savoy palace: burnt, 2, 138.

Sawtre, William : burnt as a heretic,
58, 222.

Schism in the church: evil effects,
55, 56, 218, 219.

Scotland: foray reported, 17, 162;
preparations for war with, 44,
205; Henry IV.’s campaign in,
47,208; defeats of Scots by the
Percys, 47,48, 71,209, 239 ; Scotch
herald disgraced, 63, 229; war
with, determined on, 69, 237;
the Scots declare for war, 71,
238; Glendower’s letter to the
king, 71, 239; defeat of Homildon
Hill, 85, 256 ; attack on the north
of England, 124, 305; defeat of
the duke of Albany, 131, 316.

Scots: see Ireland.

Scrivelsby manor: the champion-
ship claimed in right of, 34, 188.

Scrope, Henry, baron: executed
for a plot against Henry V., 125,
307.

841

Serope, Richard, archbishop of
York: one of a deputation to
receive Richard II.’s surrender of
the crown, 31, 184; preaches in
parliament and reads Richard’s
abdication, 32,185; beheaded at
York, 98, 99, 275.

Scrope, sir William, afterwards
earl of Wiltshire: impeaches the
duke of Gloucester and others,
18, 157; has charge of the earl
of Warwick, 17, 161; made earl
of Wiltshire, 17, 162 ; beheaded
at Bristol, 25, 174,

Scudamore, Philip, of Troy: exe-
cuted, 118, 296.

Seal, chapel of: given to Adam of
Usk, 40, 195.

Sedes stercoraria: ceremony of, at
Rome, 90, 263.

Selby, Ralph: imprisoned by the
Londoners, 28, 179.

Serle, William: executed for the
murder of the duke of Gloucester,
86, 257,

Severn: its borders harried by
Glendower, 84, 254.

Shelley, sir Thomas: executed, 42,
198.

Shene: queen Ann dies there, 9,
151; the manor broken up by
Richard II., ibid.; Henry V.’s
religious foundations there, 124,
305.

Shire-Newton: exchange of the
living by Adam of Usk, 40, 195.
Shrewsbury: parliament at, 18, 23,

163, 169; Henry Bolingbroke
marches through, 26, 175;
Thomas Prestbury made abbot,
ibid.; Henry IV. carries thither .
his Welsh prisoners, 47, 208;
defeats the Percys there, 82, 83,

252, 258.

Siena: Adamof Usk passes through,

75, 108, 248, 281,

23

342

Sigismund, king of Hungary and
emperor of Germany: defeats
Ladislas of Naples, 77, 246 ; visits
England, 130, 314; his laudatory
verses on England, ibid.

Simony: verses on, 59, 223; Boni-
face IX. accused of, 88, 259.

Sinclair, Henry, earl of Orkney:
attacks Ulster, 62, 228.

Skidmore, sir John: slain at Agin-
court, 126, 309.

Slake, Nicholas: imprisoned by the
Londoners, 28, 179.

Smithfield: W. Sawtre burnt there,
58, 222.

Snowdon: Glendower’s stronghold,
47, 70, 71, 84, 208, 237, 239, 254.

Somerset, earls of: see Beaufort,
John.

Spain: John of Gaunt’s expedition
to, 7, 147. ;

Spencer, or Despencer, Henry,
bishop of Norwich: his crusade
in Flanders, 7, 146; in custody,
43, 203.

Speyer: Adam of Usk passes
through, 74, 242.

Stafford, Edmund, bishop of Exeter
andchancellor: opens parliament
with a sermon, 9, 152.

Stafford, Edmund de, earl of Staf-
ford: made a knight of the Bath,
33, 187.

Storm: on the day of Henry V.’s
coronation, 120, 299.

Stow, Thomas: one of a deputation
to receive Richard II.’s surrender
of the crown, 31, 184.

Strassburg: Adam of Usk passes
through, 74, 242.

Strata-florida abbey: pillaged, 70,
237,

Straw, Jack: his insurrection, 1,
2, 137, 138.

Sudbury: the lordship belonging to
the earl of March, 23, 169.

INDEX

archbishop of
chancellor:

Sudbury, Simon,
Canterbury and
murdered, 1, 138.

Suffolk, earls of :

See De la Pole, Michael.
De la Pole, William.

Sulmona: the birth-place of
Innocent VII., 88, 260.

Surrey, duke of: see Holland,
Thomas.

Susa: Adam of Usk passes through,
103, 281.

Swinford, sir Thomas: starves

Richard II., 42, 199.

Talbot, Gilbert, baron: defeated
by the French, 131, 317,

Tamerlane: defeats Bajazet I., 62,
227.

Tamworth manor: the champion-
ship claimed in right of, 34, 188.

Tankerville, earl of : see Grey, John.

Taxes: evil result of, 8, 149; pro-
phecy against them, ibid.; aids,
etc., granted, 18, 44, 60, 120, 124,
126, 127, 129, 130, 131, 183, 164,
205, 225, 299, 305, 306, 309, 310,
314, 316, 317, 320; riots against,
62, 227, 228; for marriage of
Henry IV.’s daughters, 71, 239;
heavy taxes, 85, 256.

Testaccio mound, at Rome: game
on, 95, 270.

Teutonic knights: defeat the Turks,
and are defeated by the king of
Poland, 106, 286.

Theliau, saint : intervention to aid
the Welsh, 84, 255; his chapel
at St. Pol de Léon, 117, 295.

Thomas ap Adam ap William of
Weloc: exchanges the living of
Panteg for Shire-Newton,40, 195,

Thomas of Lancaster, duke of
Clarence : sent to Ireland to sub-
due the rebels, 71,238; defeated
and slain at Baugé, 133, 319.

INDEX 343

Thomas of Woodstock, duke of
Gloucester: takes part in the
battle of Radcot-bridge, 6, 145;
enters London and _ blockades
the Tower, ibid. ; impeached, 10,
_ 18,158, 157; his death at Calais,
_ 15, 160; reported confession,
ibid. ; accusation against him by
the earl of Warwick, 16, 161;
his body removed in Westminster
abbey, 39, 194; executions of his
murderers, 37, 86, 191, 257.
Tisbury : the Biving given by the
pope to Adam of Usk, 77, 246.
Tower of London: ambush against
the council, 5,143; blockaded by
the confederate lords, 6, 145;
Richard II. a prisoner in, 29, 30,
31, 32, 33, 179, 182, 184, 185,
187; Henry IV. makes knights
in, 33, 187; Griffith Glendower
dies a prisoner in, 104, 282; sir
J. Oldcastle imprisoned and
escapes, 121, 300.

Trehern: uncle of Constantine

the Great, 97, 272.

Trelleck: the lordship belonging
to the earl of March, 23, 169.
Tresilian, sir Robert, chief justice:
beheaded, 6, 146.

Trevaur, John, bishop of St.
Asaph: reads in parliament the
sentence of Richard II.’s deposi-
tion, 33, 186; his rebuke of the
commons, 39, 194; deserts to
Glendower, 106, 286 ; is deprived
and dies, 106, 287.

Trevenant, John, bishop of Here-
ford: one of a deputation to
receive Richard II.’s surrender
of the crown, 31, 184; silences
Adam of Usk, 59, 223; his death,
85, 256.

Trim: prince Henry and the young
duke of Gloucester prisonersthere,
29, 180.

Troyes: Adam of Usk passes
through, 104, 283; treaty of, 132,
319.

Tudor, William and Rhys ap:
capture Conway castle, but sur-
render, 61, 226.

Tunis: lord Fitz-Walter taken to,
as prisoner, 78, 248.

Turkey, soldan of: see Bajazet I.

Turks: oppressing the Greek
empire, 97, 273.

Tuscany: anarchy in, 76, 245.

Tyburn: executions at, 84, 255.

Tyler, Wat: his insurrection, 1, 2,
137, 138,

Ulster: earldom belonging to the
earl of March, 23, 169; attacked
by the earl of Orkney, 62, 228.

Umfreville, Gilbert de, styled earl of
Kyme: slain at Baugé, 132, 319.

Usk: the lordship belonging to the
earl of March, 23, 169; the in-
habitants reconciled to Henry
Bolingbroke, 25, 174; monster
ealf at, 41, 197; Adam of Usk
makes offerings to the church,
56, 219; a criminal set free, 61,
227; the castle ruined by Glen-
dower, 78, 247; and attacked by
his son Griffith, 103, 282 ; petition
on behalf of the priory, 93, 268.

Usk, Adam (or Adam of Usk):
made a notary by cardinal Pileus,
3,139 ; an extraordinary in canon
law at Oxford, 6, 145; sees the
army of the confederate lords
march through Oxford, ibid.;
ringleader in Oxford riots, 7, 148;
present in parliament, 9, 152;
presented by the earl of March to
an exhibition at Oxford, 22, 168;
present at Bristol with Henry
Bolingbroke’s army, 25, 174; in-
tercedes for the men of Usk, ibid. ;
accompanies Henry’s army to

344

Chester, 25, 26, 174-176 ; obtains
the appointment of T. Prestbury
as abbot of Shrewsbury, 26, 175;
celebrates mass at Coddington,
27, 176; sits on a commission
to advise on Richard II.’s deposi-
tion, 29, 181; visits him in the
Tower, 30, 182 ; draws the petition
for the king’s champion, 34,
188 ; anecdote of wonderful eggs,
37, 191; hears a sermon in
Westminster abbey, 40, 195; pre-
sented to the living of Kemsing
and Seal and prebend of Llandogo,
and exchanges the living of Shire-
Newton, 40, 195 ; counsel for sir
J. Berkeley, ibid.; his anecdote
of Richard II.’s greyhound, 41,
196; describes monstrosities, 41,
197; speaks in convocation, 44,
204; prebendary of Bangor, 45,
206; counsel for lord Morley,
ibid.; his fee, 46, 207; questions
on queen Isabella’s dower sub-
mitted to him, 48-54, 209-217 ;
presented to the living of West
Hanningfield, 55, 217; makes
offerings to the church of Usk,
56, 219; his coat of arms, ibid. ;
serves in an inquiry at Nuneaton,
57, 220; counsel for lord Grey of
Ruthin, 58, 63, 221, 229; con-
verses with the German ambassa-
dors, 59, 223; his dream on the
treatment of the Welsh, 60, 225 ;
counsel for sir W. Byttervey, 63,
64, 229; journey to Rome, 74,
75, 242,248; introduced to pope
Boniface IX., 75, 243; examined
and appointed papal chaplain
and auditor, ibid.; receives
various benefices from the pope,
76, 77, 246; proposed as bishop
of Hereford, 85, 256; length of
his exile, ibid.; his letter to
Henry IV., 86, 87, 257, 258; his

INDEX

dreams about Boniface IX., 88,
259; and on Innocent VII.’s
election, 89, 261; present at
Innocent’s, as formerly at Henry
IV.’s, coronation, 91, 264; pro-
posed as bishop of St. David’s, 92,
265; persecuted by his enemies,
ibid.; petitions the pope on behalf
of Usk priory, 98, 268 ; assists at
ceremonies at Rome, 92, 95, 266,
271; present in Rome during
insurrection, 99, 276; escapes to
Viterbo, 99, 276, 277; the pope’s
jeer at him, 100, 277 ; his illness
at Viterbo, ibid.; restored to the
rota, ibid. ; hears the cause of the
Schottenkloster of Vienna, 101,
279; leaves Rome and travels
through Lombardy and France
to Bruges, 103, 104, 281-283 ;
robbed, 104, 283 ; travels through
France, Normandy, and Brittany,
and practises as a lawyer there,
ibid. ; loss of his benefices, ibid. ;
warned not to enter England,
ibid. ; further incurs Henry IV.’s
anger for holding communication
with the earl of Northumberland,
105, 284; makes a declaration
of his conduct, at Paris, before
Lancaster king of arms, 117, 295;
chased at sea, ibid.; his vision
and escape to St. Pol de Léon,
117, 296; celebrates mass in the
chapel of saint Theliau there,
ibid.; lands at Barmouth in
Wales, ibid.; escapes to Pool,
118, 296; pardoned, 118, 297;
present in parliament, 119,
297 ; restored to practice in the
court of Canterbury, ibid. ; pre-
sented to the living of Merstham,
ibid.; reference to his presence
at Henry IV.’s coronation, 119,
298 ; his vision on the death of
archbishop Arundel, 122, 302;

INDEX

reference to the surrender of his
civil chair at Oxford to Henry
Chicheley, 123, 303; gets relief
from taxation for Welsh bene-
fices, 127, 310.

Usk, John, abbot of Chertsey: his
death, 46, 207.

Usk, Thomas: beheaded, 6, 146;
author of the “Testament of
Love,” 146 note.

Vaughan, Llewellyn ap Griffith, of
Cayo: executed, 70, 237.

Venice: the duke of Norfolk dies
there, 24,171; lord Fitz-Walter
dies there, 78, 248; false prophet
at, 96, 271.

Vere, Aubrey de, earl of Oxford:
chamberlain at Henry IV.’s coro-
nation, 34, 188.

Vere, Robert de, earl of Oxford:
sent into Cheshire to raise men
for Richard II., 5, 144; defeated
at Radcot-bridge, 6, 145; his
death, ibid.

Vienna: cause of the Schotten-
kloster at, 101, 279.

Visconti, Bernabo: uncle of the
duke of Milan, 76, 245.

Visconti, Galeazzo: father of the
duke of Milan, 76, 245.

Visconti, Gian-Galeazzo, duke of
Milan: at war, 75, 243; comet
foretelling his death, ibid.; de-
feats the emperor Rupert, 75,
244; takes Bologna and Padua,
and dies, 76, 244; his character,
ibid.

Visconti, Giovanni: archbishop of
Milan, 76, 245.

Viterbo: Adam of Usk passes
through, 75, 243; Innocent VII.
takes refuge there, 99, 276;
Adam escapes thither, 99, 277.

Vladislas, king of Poland: defeats
the Teutonic knights, 106, 286.

345

Walden, Roger, archbishop of
Canterbury : imprisoned, 28,179 ;
deprived, 37, 38, 192; sues for
grace, 38, 193; his good charac-
ter, ibid.; prophecy concerning
him, 39, 193.

Wales: Welsh in riots at Oxford,
7, 147; ancient rights of Welsh
on lands of the earl of Arundel
respected, 16, 160; Glendower's
rising defeated, 47, 208; prodigy
at Builth, 55, 218; reprisals
against the Welsh authorized,
60, 224; debates in parliament
against them, 60, 225; Glen-
dower harries the country, 64,
280; attacks Pool, etc., 70, 237;
inroad of the English, ibid.;
fortifications repaired, 70, 238;
threatened suppression of the
Welsh language, 71, 238; Glen-
dower defeated at Caernarvon,
71, 238, 239; he harries Ruthin,
71, 239; his letters to Scotland
and Ireland, 72, 73, 239-241; he
defeats sir E. Mortimer, 77, 246 ;
harries the borders, 78, 247; in-
vasion by Henry IV., ibid. ; Glen-
dower harries the south, 84,
254; inroad of the men of
Bristol, 84, 255; French expedi-
tion to aid Glendower, 85, 255;
amount of revenue to England,
86, 257; defeat of Griffith Glen-
dower, 103, 282 ; capture of Glen-
dower's family, 119, 297, 298;
Welsh ordered to withdraw
home, 120, 299; a pair ofmarried
Welsh children, 121, 300; relief
of benefices from taxation, 127,
310; death of Glendower, 129,313.

Wales, princes of :

See Henry, prince of Wales.
Llewellyn, prince of Wales.

Wales, princess of: see Joan of

Kent, princess of Wales.

346 INDEX

Walsingham: the lordship belong-
ing to the earl of March, 23, 169,

Walworth, sir William: slays J.
Straw (Wat Tyler), 2, 138.

Warwick, countess of: see Beau-
champ, Margaret.

Warwick, earls of:

See Beauchamp, Richard.
Beauchamp, Thomas.

Washing feet: ceremony of, at
Rome, 97, 274.

Waterton, Robert, forester of
Knaresborough: joins Henry
Bolingbroke, 25, 174.

Wenceslaus, king of Bohemia and
emperor of Germany: deposed,

55, 217; reported defeated by
the duke of Bavaria, emperor-
elect, ibid.

Westminster: great council at, 69,
237.

Westminster abbey : monk accused
of treason, 16, 161; search for
Richard II. in,. 28, 179; Henry
IV.’s coronation in, 38, 34, 187;
removal of the duke of Glou-
cester's body in, 39, 40, 194, 195;
miraculous ringing of the bells
on the Confessor’s tomb, 55, 218.

Westminster, abbot of: see Col-
chester, William de.

Westminster hall: reconciliation
of Richard II. and the confede-
rate lords in, 5, 148, 144;
Henry IV.’s coronation banquet
in, 34, 188.

Westmoreland, earl of: see Nevill,
Ralph.

Whaddon: the lordship belonging
to the earl of March, 23, 169.

Wigmore abbey: founded by Hugh
Mortimer, 22, 167; Edmund earl
of March buried there, 22, 168.

William of Bavaria, count of
Holland: visits England, 130,
315; his death, 130, 316.

Willoughby, William, baron: joins
Henry Bolingbroke, 25, 174.

Wills: reform of probate fees, 123,
304,

Wiltshire, earl of: see Scrope, sir
William.

Winchecumb, Tideman de, bishop
of Worcester: his death, 64, 230.

Winchester, bishop of: see Wyke-
ham, William of.

Windsor: the duke of Norfolk in
custody at, 23, 171; design of
conspirators to attack the castle,
and kill Henry IV., 41, 197.

Worcester, bishops of:

See Clifford, Richard.
Winchecumb, Tideman de.

Worcester, earl of: see Percy, sir
Thomas.

Worcester, prior of: see Malvern,
John de.

Worms: Adam of Usk passes
through, 74, 242.

Wycliffe, John: spread of his doc-
trine, 3, 4, 140, 141. See also
Lollards.

Wykeham, William of, bishop of
Winchester: absolved for share
in the commission of regency, 13,
156.

York: execution of archbishop
Scrope and the earl of Notting-
ham at, 98, 99, 275; submission
of the citizens, 99, 275, 276.

York, archbishops of:

See Nevill, Alexander.
Scrope, Richard.

York, dukes of:

See Edmund of Langley.
Plantagenet, Edward.

Zouche, la, William, baron Zouche :
wrongly stated to have attended
the council of Constance, 124,
304.

ADDITIONS AND CORRECTION

p. 173, note 2. Hotspur calls Henry ‘This fawning greyhound.’ Shake-
speare, Henry IV., pt. I., act I. se. iij.

p- 187, note 2. The lordship of the Isle of Man was granted to the earl
of Northumberland, to hold by the service of carrying at the left
shoulder of the king or his heirs, on the day of coronation, the
sword called ‘ Lancastreswerd,” with which Henry was girt
when he landed at Ravenspur; 19 Oct. 13899.—Cal. Pat. Rot.,
Hen. IV., j. 27.

p-. 283, line 11. For Richard Lancaster, king of arms, read Richard,
Lancaster king of arms.

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